VARA Exchange Services Rulebook (effective 31 March 2026)chapter by chapter

Part I.A Board constitution

VARA exchange board must include executive and non-executive directors, at least one independent director, meet at least quarterly, and set director term limits.

Part I.B.1-3Part I.B Board committees

Boards must establish remuneration, nomination and audit committees with charters and regular reporting, and keep Board and committee minutes for at least eight years.

Part I.C.1Part I.C Board remuneration reporting

Firms under the VARA Exchange Services Rulebook must submit annually to VARA details of all Board and committee compensation and the reasons for it.

Part II.A.1-2Part II.A Policies and procedures

Exchange service providers must maintain written policies on market offences and abusive practices, client access and withdrawals during volatility, settlement, clearing, and price determination, reviewed at least yearly.

Part II.B.1-3Part II.B Public disclosures

Exchange service providers must publicly disclose conflicts of interest, complaints policies, custody and pricing methods, and a per-token summary covering issuance, supply, audits and price drawdown.

Part III.A.1-6Part III.A Code of conduct

Trading venues must publish and enforce a code of conduct with disciplinary powers, disclose it, and obtain client acceptance in the Client Agreement; VARA may require suspension of any virtual asset's trading.

Part III.B.1-3Part III.B Market surveillance and notifications

Exchange service providers must share surveillance and disciplinary information with VARA, report positions and margin calls on suspected market abuse, and keep fees transparent, fair and non-discriminatory.

Part III.C.1Part III.C Trading systems continuity

Trading systems on virtual asset exchanges must be resilient and tested, handle volatility, reject erroneous orders or orders beyond volume and price thresholds, and have business continuity and disaster recovery arrangements.

Part III.D.1Part III.D Settlement

Complete final settlement of Virtual Asset transactions within 24 hours of execution, barring uncontrollable factors like DLT malfunctions.

Part IV.A.1-3Part IV.A Margin Trading authorisation

Margin trading may be offered by a virtual asset service provider only if VARA explicitly authorises it and the licence states so, with sufficient assets to meet client obligations at all times.

Part IV.B.1-3Part IV.B Margin Trading approval and powers

Approval for Margin Trading requires submitting relevant terms and agreements; VARA may inspect systems and enforce compliance measures.

Part IV.C.1.a-lPart IV.C Margin Trading obligations

Firms offering margin trading must assess client suitability, segregate margin accounts, prohibit funding one client with another's money, issue monthly statements, give margin call warnings, liquidate positions if unremedied, and keep records eight years.

Part IV.D.1-3Part IV.D Margin prudential limits and collateral

Margin trading funds must be included in operational exposure, single-client credit is capped at one tenth of margin trading funds, and collateral is limited to approved virtual assets, fiat, and AED/USD-referencing tokens.

Part IV.E.1-2Part IV.E Margin Trading Agreement

The Margin Trading Agreement must outline client responsibilities, risks, withdrawal rights, and applicable fees while requiring VARA approval for amendments.

Part V.A.1-8Part V.A ETD Services general

Only VARA-authorised exchange-licensed VASPs may provide ETD services; they may not trade ETDs for own or group account, and must offer ETDs only on assets meeting VA Standards.

Part V.B.1-5Part V.B ETD approval and VARA powers

Firms seeking ETD approval must apply to VARA with product details, controls, risk disclosures, close-out and loss-mutualisation procedures, and Insurance Fund information, and VARA may impose restrictions, limits, and immediate intervention measures.

Part V.C.1-7Part V.C Client suitability

Firms may offer ETD services only to suitable clients who understand major risks, accepted the agreement, and must keep assessment records at least eight years.

Part V.D.1-6Part V.D Segregation of ETD Services

Only ETD Clients may access ETD Services; trading accounts must be segregated, and using other account assets to settle ETD liabilities requires full disclosure and explicit prior consent per position.

Part V.E.1-4Part V.E Client communications

Virtual asset exchange communications must be fair, clear and not misleading, include regular ETD position and margin updates, prominent risk statements and disclaimers, and be tested regularly.

Part V.F.1-2Part V.F ETD Services Agreement

ETD Services Agreements must cover client classification, product terms, leverage limits, close-out rights, margin, fees, trading halts and specified risks with explicit consent.

Part V.G.1-12Part V.G Margin and leverage limits

ETD trading requires Initial Margin held before positions and Maintenance Margin maintained; Retail Investors are capped at 5-to-1 leverage with minimum twenty percent initial margin, and retail loss outcomes must be reviewed.

Part V.H.1-4Part V.H Perpetual ETDs

The funding rate for each Perpetual ETD must be calculated at least three times daily, with a funding payment chart for Retail Investors.

Part V.I.1-8Part V.I Insurance Funds

Exchanges must establish an insurance fund unless VARA approves otherwise, with minimum size covering negative equity under extreme but plausible conditions, holding only prescribed assets and proportionate client contributions.

Part V.J.1-7Part V.J Monitoring, margin call and close-out

Providers must implement robust monitoring and alert systems for margin positions and take actions when balances are insufficient.

Part V.K.1-4Part V.K Negative balances and loss mutualisation

Clients must cover negative equity before taking new positions; losses may then be mutualised equally among non-defaulting ETD Clients only once other measures are exhausted.

Part V.L.1-4Part V.L Records and notifications

Virtual asset exchange services licensees must keep full records on suitability, liquidations, client profit and loss, leverage, volumes, and incidents, and notify VARA immediately of specified events.

Part IV.C.1.l-retRecord Retention — Margin Trading service records

Margin trading service records must be retained for 8 years from the date of the record.

Part V.C.5-retRecord Retention — ETD client suitability assessments

ETD client suitability assessments must be retained for 8 years from the date of the assessment.