United Arab Emirates: federal and free zone registers and beneficial ownership rules

Checking a licence on the National Economic Register

The official UAE government portal calls the National Economic Register a federal platform that brings together accessible government data ⁴. It says businesses can view the licence details the government holds on record, check economic licences and activities, and see whether a trade name is available. The portal links to growth.gov.ae for the platform. The page was updated on 17 April 2026 ⁴.

Under Cabinet Resolution No. 109 of 2023, each registrar must keep the basic data of the legal persons it registers accurate and available to the public. Registrars must update their registers on an ongoing basis and share them with the Ministry ¹. The Ministry of Economy says the beneficial ownership registration covers nearly 700,000 private sector enterprises in the country, including those in commercial free zones ³.

Free zone registers

Article 3(2) of Cabinet Resolution No. 109 of 2023 excludes financial free zones from its scope ¹. The penalties resolution applies to legal persons licensed or registered in the UAE, including those in non-financial free zones ².

Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) says its online registry solution lets users search for entities and their associated details ⁵. ADGM lists a register of financial services firms and a register of individuals authorised to conduct controlled activities ⁵. The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) runs a public register page for company information ⁶. Neither page states a fee for searching or says whether beneficial owner data is shown ^5,6.

Who counts as a beneficial owner

Article 1 defines the real beneficiary as the natural person in whom final ownership of a legal person vests, or who exercises final control over it ¹. Article 5(1) names a person who holds, directly or indirectly, 25 percent or more of the capital or of the voting rights. A person with other control, such as the power to appoint or remove a majority of the board, counts too ¹.

• Companies wholly owned by the federal or a local government, and companies wholly owned by those companies, are outside the resolution ¹.
• Financial free zones and government partners are outside it ¹.
• A legal person must update its Real Beneficiary Register within 15 days of being informed of a change ¹.
• Changes to other data go to the registrar within 15 days of the change ¹.
• A nominee board member must notify the legal person within 15 days of becoming a nominee, according to the Ministry of Economy ³.
• Registrars keep registers handed over to them for five years after a legal person expires ¹.

Who can see beneficial owner data

Article 16(1) bars the Ministry and the registrar from disclosing data in the Real Beneficiary Register, or in the Partners or Shareholders Register, to any person without written approval from the real beneficiary or the nominee board member ¹. Article 16(2) excludes disclosures required by the resolution and obligations under international laws and agreements, such as those on anti-money laundering, counter terrorism financing and tax information exchange ¹.

Article 17 provides for sharing with relevant authorities in the UAE on request, and with foreign authorities through international cooperation ¹. Article 13(5)(d) requires the registrar to publish the procedures for obtaining real beneficiary data ¹.

Penalties

Cabinet Resolution No. 132 of 2023 sets administrative penalties for breaches of Resolution No. 109 and repeals Cabinet Resolution No. 53 of 2021 ². For a third breach of certain provisions, the registrar may suspend the commercial licence and close the commercial premises until the fine is paid and the breach corrected ². The Ministry of Economy says the penalties cover 16 items, rising from a warning to a first and then a second financial penalty ³.