Q: I am an expat who purchased a sole proprietorship training company in Dubai onshore. I would like it to be owned by a Holding company outside of the UAE. Can the Holding own such a company or do I have to change its legal form to something else? And, would that form force me to have lower % ownership? Thank you.

Q: Process/Steps and Documents required to complete simple share transfer between minority shareholders in an LLC ( Shop)?

Q: Dear Sir We are a Saudi-based company registered in the UAE as a branch of GCC. We are in process of signing an agreement with a software developing company based in India as a sole distributor for their products in GCC. Can you let us do procedure and legalities? Secondly, do we need to register for VAT since some sales are for the Saudi market? Do we need to charge VAT for sales done in Saudi through us? Looking forward to your reply Regards, Imtiyaz

Q: Hello all, When a company's ownership is transferred to ICD (Investment Corporation of Dubai), is it considered a government, semi-government, or private company?

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.

It is the first article in a series of articles written by the author to give a better insight to the readers about the corporate governance practices under the best practice principles and the UAE legal system through innovative suggestions of its implementation for your organisation. Next series will be on the UAE regulatory framework on corporate governance.

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.