UAE Law and Practice Contributed by: Amir Alkhaja, Areen Jayousi, Gulsun Ozmen and Alia AlMarzooqi, Habib Al Mulla & Partners
tice, common conditions include minimum paid-up capital thresholds (which vary by activity type and emirate), the appointment of a general manager and the maintenance of an address within the licensed emirate. The company’s licence must at all times accurately reflect its permitted activities, address and organisational details. Emiratisation Obligations All employers with sufficient workforce size and oper - ating in applicable sectors are subject to Emiratisa - tion requirements, which mandate the hiring of UAE nationals at prescribed ratios or minimum numeri - cal targets. These obligations are administered by MOHRE and enforced through financial contributions including the Emiratisation Development Contribu - tion for each unfilled quota position. Emiratisation targets have been progressively expanding in scope and depth, and compliance is a significant operational consideration for any business employing staff in the UAE. Regulated Sector and Project Commitments In regulated sectors, the regulating authority may impose additional binding conditions as part of the authorisation process, such as maintaining quali - fied management and operational functions within the UAE, ongoing capital adequacy compliance and periodic regulatory reporting. Investors participating in government concessions or public-private partner - ship projects may also be required to agree to local content, technology transfer and workforce training and development commitments as part of the conces - sion or project agreement. 2.4 Right to Appeal Administrative Court Challenge Decisions refusing a licence or investment approval are subject to challenge before the UAE administrative courts. At the federal level, the Federal Administrative Court has jurisdiction to review administrative deci - sions on grounds of illegality, procedural irregularity and disproportionality. In Dubai, the Dubai Administra - tive Court hears challenges against decisions of local government authorities and licensing bodies. The time limit for commencing an administrative chal - lenge is generally 60 days from the date of publication,
notification of the decision to the investor or the date on which the investor is deemed to have had certain knowledge of it. This deadline may be interrupted by filing a formal grievance with the relevant administra - tive authority; if no decision on the grievance is issued within 60 days, it is deemed rejected, and the litiga - tion period begins to run. Given these strict deadlines, specialist legal advice should be sought promptly. Internal Reconsideration and Free Zone Appeals Most licensing and regulatory authorities provide an internal reconsideration or administrative appeal mechanism, and investors are generally expected – and in some cases, required – to exhaust these inter - nal remedies before approaching the courts. Within the DIFC and ADGM, administrative and regulatory decisions are subject to their own internal appeal procedures, with review before the relevant free zone bodies. The scope of judicial oversight of regulatory decisions is generally confined to questions of law - fulness and procedural compliance rather than a full examination of the underlying merits of the decision. 3. Corporate Vehicles 3.1 Most Common Forms of Legal Entity Limited Liability Company (LLC) The LLC is the most widely used corporate structure for mainland commercial activity and is governed by the Commercial Companies Law. An LLC may have between one and 50 shareholders, with each share - holder’s liability limited to their capital contribution. There is no prescribed minimum share capital at the federal level, though specific activity types may attract minimum capital requirements under sector regulation. The LLC is suited to the broadest range of commercial purposes – trading, services, manufactur - ing, joint ventures and general market entry – and is the standard vehicle of choice for foreign investors establishing a wholly owned or jointly owned mainland presence. Public Joint Stock Company (PJSC) A PJSC is a company whose shares may be offered to the public and listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) or the Dubai Financial Market (DFM). It requires a minimum of five founding shareholders
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