Beneficial Owner Procedures - Cabinet Decision No. 58 of 2020 Uncertainties and Clarifications

Beneficial Owner Procedures - Cabinet Decision No. 58 of 2020 

Beneficial Owner Procedures Regulation has been introduced in UAE vide Cabinet Decision No. 58 of 2020, on 24 August 2020. Beneficial Owner Procedures Regulation came into effect on 27 August 2020.

Since very little was known about it initially, there were uncertainties as to where will the details be filed, how are the same to be filed, and most important the deadline for the Beneficial Owner Details filing.

However, since the beginning of October 2020, the Licensing Authorities have been very active and have started communicating in the context of Beneficial Owner Regulations via their websites, Twitter handles, and even directly to the stakeholders.
It is now clarified that the details for the Beneficial Owner will be required to be filed with respective Licencing Authorities and in the format provided by them unless otherwise conveyed.

As regards the deadlines for Beneficial Owner details filing, based on the details available in the public domain as on 27 October 2020, the following Authorities have issued the deadlines and details regarding the mode of filing:

      Sr. No       Licensing

      Due Date      

      Mode of Submission      

      Portal, Link, or Email      

1      

Dubai Silicon Oasis

27-Oct-20

Email to DSOA Licensing

Lic_section@dso.ae

2

Hamriyah Free Zone

28-Oct-20

Via e-portal

HFZA Portal

3

Ajman Free Zone

31-Oct-20

Via e-Portal

Ajman Free Zone Portal: Services- Company Services - Ultimate Beneficial Owner

AFZ Portal

4

Dubai DED

June 15, 2021

Service Centers

DED Portal

5

Fujairah Creative City

27-Oct-20

Email

ubo@ccfz.ae
ccfz@creativezone.ae

6 SAIF Zone Not Specified Via e-portal SAIF Zone Portal
7.             
 
Ras Al Khaimah Economy Zone (RAKEZ) Not Specified  Via Portal   RAKEZ
8.             
 
Dubai Development Authority (DDA) 27.10.2020   Via e-Portal  DDA
9 Um AlQuwain Free Trade Zone    May 31, 2021     Portal UBO Um AlQuwain Free Trade Zone
10

Dubai Multi Commodities Centre
         

Not Specified  Via e-Portal     DMCC Form
11 Media Zone Authority (MZA) Not specified Via e-Portal   
12 Dubai Aviation City Corporation (DACC) Not specified E-mail 

license@dacc.ae

13 JAFZA

June 5, 2021

Via e-portal

 JAFZA UBO

Over and above the above-mentioned Free Zones, the Department of Economic Development (‘DED’) has released the Decision Text and Statement of Identification of Beneficial Owner Data on its website, which can be accessed at https://dubaided.gov.ae/laws_and_regulations/en
As per the Statement, the Legal Person is required to submit the following details in connection with the Beneficial Owner Procedures: 

Sr. No.     Particulars    Remarks

1.

Full name as per the identity card or passport (Attach a true copy of valid identity card or passport) This will be required for each individual beneficial owner and can be extracted from his Passport

2.

Nationality, Date and Place of Birth As per Passport

3.

Country of issuance, date issuance and expiry date of the identity card or passport As per Passport

4.

Residential address or the address which the notices shall be sent on it. To be confirmed with the Beneficial Owner

5.

Name of the entity and address thereof.

 

6.

Identification of the Beneficial Owner capacity in the Legal Person who owns 25% or more, basis and date on which the person became a Beneficial Owner of the Legal Person. The following shall be observed:

 

6a.

Ultimate ownership or control of the Beneficial owner, whether directly through a chain of ownership, control or by other means of control such as the right to appoint or dismiss the majority of Directors of the Legal Person. Ownership whether direct or indirect

6b.

Determination of a ratio of the capital of the Beneficial Owner, his shares and its nominee value. Percentage/share of capital and its value

6c.

In the event, if the Beneficial Owner and more natural persons jointly own or control a ratio of capital in the Legal Person, all of them shall be deemed as jointly owners or controllers of such ratio Joint ownership, mention ratio of ownership of all individuals

7.

Disclosure of the number of other legal persons which the Beneficial Owner owns manages or controls accordingly No. of entities the Beneficial owner owns, manages or controls

8.

In the event, if where no natural person is identified in accordance with the abovementioned, the natural person who holds the position of a higher management official or who controls the Legal Person by other means of control such as the right to appoint or dismiss the majority of Directors of the Legal Person shall be deemed as the Beneficial Owner. If no Natural Person identified, details of higher management official or deemed beneficial owner to be submitted

 

With regard to Beneficial Owner Filing, it is noticed that the Authority has written emails to certain Stakeholders asking to submit further details as under:


•    Copy of the Memorandum of Association
•    Copy of the Commercial License
•    Copy of the Commercial Register
•    In case of LLC - An Official letter signed and stamped by the company stating the names of the correct real partners and that the company bears legal responsibility for the registered data.
•    In case of public/private joint-stock company - An official letter signed and sealed from the company stating the names of the correct members of the board of directors and that the company shall bear the legal responsibility for the recorded data.
•    In the case of foreign & GCC companies (branches of GCC and foreign companies or a legal partner of a company outside the country) – All the documents must be certified and sealed by the UAE embassy in the country of the main company and by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in UAE and translated into Arabic. 

Fees:

In the mail, the authority also mentioned of levy of a transaction fee of AED 15 and that the documents may be submitted at any of their service centres.

Now that the Beneficial Owner Procedures has gained popularity and has come in limelight, it is anticipated that every Authority shall issue their own formats, mode of filing and deadlines within few days. It is, therefore, recommended that every Legal Person should keep the details ready to avoid violation of deadlines.

You may contact us for any further information regarding the matter.  

For more information & Support for Beneficial Owner Procedures:

CA. Manu Palerichal, CEO & Partner
M:+971502828727 
E:manu@emiratesca.com

CA. Dhara Yagnik, Manager – Audit & Taxation
M: +971565956836
E: dhara@emiratesca.com

Purvi Mehta, Asst. Manager – International Taxation
M:+971522800480
E:purvi@emiratesca.com

 

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