The United Arab Emirates allowed foreign investors to fully establish and own companies without the need for a specific nationality.
The President of the UAE, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, issued a decree to amend the Companies’ Law, allowing foreign entrepreneurs and investors to fully establish and own companies without the need for a specific nationality.
The amendments included abolishing the requirement that a foreign company wishing to open a branch within the state must have an agent from among the country's citizens. It also included the reorganization of some provisions and rules for limited liability and shareholding companies, and the cancellation of Federal Decree-Law No. 19 of 2018 in the matter of foreign direct investment.
The Decree-Law grants the competent local authority powers that include determining a certain percentage of citizens' participation in the capital or boards of directors of all companies that are established within their jurisdiction, approving applications for establishing companies other than joint-stock companies and determining fees in accordance with the controls approved by the Council of Ministers. The amendments exempt foreign investors from the minimum percentage of ownership of UAE citizens, however, the law will not apply to some companies excluded based on cabinet decisions and those wholly owned by federal or local governments or their subsidiaries.
Source (Al-Rai Newspaper-Kuwait, Edited)
