Q: Hello, I am a resident of the UAE. I own 2 businesses; a Freezone company in Dubai for my consulting activities and an LLC in the USA for my commercial activities. So I have 2 business accounts, one in the UAE for my Freezone and one in the USA for my LLC. Do I have the right to transfer funds from my US LLC directly to my personal Emirati account? Will these funds be considered as salary or dividends? Do I have to produce documents? Thank you in advance!

Q: Hello, I have a question related to business. I have set up a business in the UAE (Flexi desk in Free Zone). The business activity is E-Commerce. I have registered the business and obtained a UAE Investor Visa, but when it came to opening a bank account, I faced a lot of difficulties. While I was waiting for the opening of a bank account (which took me 4 months and the banker has failed to open a bank account), I have opened a merchant account with Telr. I started accepting payments online from my customers and right now there's money in the merchant account which can be withdrawn to a UAE business bank account (as I have mentioned earlier, I don't have a UAE business bank account). So I have contacted them and asked if they can transfer the money to my personal bank account which is outside the UAE (US bank account or my Russian bank account). They have stated that they can't settle funds to the bank account outside the UAE due to UAE CB rules. Can you suggest me please what I can do in this situation?

Q: Hi, I own a business in Abu Dhabi (a sole establishment) where I am the 100% shareholder as per trade license. The name of the Local Service Agent also appears on the Trade License as a Sponsor. The Local Service Agent is not an Owner, Partner or Manager. While opening a business account, the bank asked me for the passport copy and Emirates ID of the Local Service Agent, is that mandatory? As the Local Service Agent is not an owner nor a partner or a manager, why the bank cannot open a business account with just my personal details? A notarized Local Service Agent agreement was provided to the bank but they still insist on getting his passport and Emirates ID copies.

Q: I am a Canadian living in Toronto and require advice concerning an account that I have in Dubai.

Over the years the UAE has become a centre of trade and commerce for the Middle East, thanks to its strategic location, excellent connectivity and extensive services to assist with all aspects of business. According to the World Bank's 2016 report, the UAE has ranked 31st in the global index of ease of doing business. This encourages more entrepreneurs to set up different kinds of business entities in the country.

The UAE government has announced important changes to the federal Commercial Companies Law, the most significant is related to the foreign ownership of mainland companies. This will grant foreign investors the full ownership of share capital in companies carrying out certain activities specified to that effect by the competent authorities. This means that foreign investors’ shares will not be limited anymore to a maximum of 49% like before, but can be up to 100% instead.

The provisions of this Law apply to the commercial companies established in the UAE and the foreign companies that have established in the UAE a base to conduct any activity therein or established a branch or representative office. The Law abrogates Federal Law No. (8) of 1984 Concerning Commercial Companies.

This Law applies to merchants, as well as to all acts of commerce carried out in the UAE by any person even though he be not a trader. Commercial matters regarding which specific Federal laws are issued shall be subject to the provisions of such laws, and to the provisions hereof which do not contradict with said laws.

The law defines the crimes related to money laundering, commitments and the jurisdictions of the governmental authorities, and the sanctions against perpetrators of money laundering.

The provisions of this law, promulgating UAE Civil Code, govern the civil transactions in the United Arab Emirates. The commercial transactions remain subject to the laws and regulations applicable in their regard.