Q: Good afternoon, I am writing from Italy. Before going to court, I would like to know, according to UAE's laws, if I'm entitled to claim my money against my former Bangladeshi partner. I will sum up the situation briefly: I and my Bangladeshi partner opened on 23rd April 2019 a fifty-fifty trading company in Ajman FreeZone. Due to Covid in June 2020, we decided to separate. Meantime in July, we received an order from a customer with a shipment date in November. After order, proforma invoice, adjustment quantity, etc, on 1th of September, we received a definitive LC at sight from the customer. On the 14th of September, I signed in favor of my partner and left him all my 50% shares for free. I want to know if I'm entitled to ask for my part of the money because I brought the customer and my former partner doesn't want to pay. Please note that I signed a transfer share form in Ajman FreeZone offices, but nobody wants to give me a copy. Many thanks for helping!

Q: Hi, I have a business dispute with my partner in a civil company. My share in the company is 25%, partner's share is 70%, and local share is 5%. I have an employee manager visa. Is it possible for my partner or the local to abscond or do any ban on me? And if the company visa is not renewed, would I get automatically canceled or not? Please let me know with your expertise!

Q: I am a partner in a restaurant with a 20% stake and the remaining divided equally between 2 other partners. I have been made the managing partner to run the place. I would like to resign from the position as all responsibility has been put on me. I am not being paid for my time and efforts as a managing partner. I don't have any signing authority with banks and because of my position, all legal onus has been put on me. They are refusing to put money into the business and as it's a new business, the initial financial support is missing which is dragging down the business. In this situation, I am feeling overwhelmed and distressed because I know without the influx required for marketing, the business will not grow to become sustainable. And without any compensation coming from the company, I cannot survive. So I would like to remove myself from the managing partner position. How can I do that?

Q: My company is FZC - Free Zone Limited Liability Company (FZ-LLC). The company is incorporated in the Free Zone with 2 shareholders and has 2 licenses- Commercial & Industrial and has a warehouse for stocking the goods. Every year when the license is renewed, the warehouse rental is also renewed. In the last 4 years, the licenses and warehouse are not renewed and the warehouse is not handed over to the Authorities. The Authorities filed a legal case saying that the warehouse rental needs to be paid for 4 years, and only then the premises can be vacated. Then the judge issued the verdict saying that the owners are liable to pay. Since the owners cannot pay the amount, the judge orders travel bans and arrest warrants for the owners. The company is LLC, which means in general, the owners of an LLC are not personally liable for the debts of the company. This means that if the company is sued, the owners are not responsible for paying off any debts with their personal assets. Am I right?

Q: Hello! I hope all is well. Long ago, there was a hotel where we placed our employees for an event. The event got canceled early by the government under a situation not under our control. We then simply paid for the number of nights we stayed. However, the agreement was for a longer duration. The event cancellation led to a three-year legal case where we had testimonials from the hotel itself, the government, and staff regarding this issue. The case was dismissed, and we won. However, they reapplied the case a year ago, and since then, we haven't heard anything or received any notification. The judge gave them the right, and now we need to pay them over 100,000 AED. I'm worried that they can attack my personal assets since everything within the operation was done via an FZ LLC company. The case was dismissed thrice, but on the fourth attempt, it was accepted by the judge. What do I do now? Do I sell my house, or is my house safe since it's under a mortgage by a bank? Can they attack it?

Q: Dear Lawyers, I am a 50% partner in a company. I had given a 2M AED loan to the company about 10 years ago. There are expert reports and bank records to prove the loan. The company does not have any bank balances or assets. Should I start a lawsuit against the company and demand 2M AED, or should I start a lawsuit against the other 50% partner and demand 1M AED? One benefit of suing the company is that I can obtain an acknowledgment of debt, and later in an execution case, I can issue a certificate of solvency to have the other partner arrested. However, suing the other 50% partner directly would include their name in the executive writ. Please guide me! (I believe all necessary legal information is provided here. If something is missing, I can provide additional details here.)

Companies can be wound up by Voluntary Liquidation. This shall proceed as initiated by shareholders or creditors of a company by passing a valid shareholder’s resolution. When a company’s financial mechanism fails, and the company is in financial distress and/ or becomes insolvent whereby it is unable to pay off its debts, the company may file a petition for winding up to the court.

The UAE continues to strive to modernize its laws and create more flexibility in meeting the needs and requirements of investors and businessmen and elevate its economy to the highest levels of growth and development.

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.