Regulatory updates
New rules, circulars, consultations and notices from UAE regulators, each summarised with who is affected and what to do. Collected by Arakan Lexara from the regulators' own websites.
Arakan Lexara Weekly
The week's changes, what they mean and the deadlines ahead. Every Monday, free.
The Registration Authority proposed amendments to the Commercial Permits Regulations 2024 introducing three new permit categories — temporary commercial permits, sales and promotions permits, and temporary activity permits — to regulate short-term and promotional commercial activity in ADGM. This was later finalised in July 2026 (see ADGM-2026-003).
New DIFC Courts practice direction lets the Registrar waive or reduce court fees and allow installment payments in employment claims based on financial hardship, moves to a default 'each party bears its own costs' rule instead of costs typically shifting to the losing employee, and makes CFI employment hearings private by default with anonymized judgments. Exact issuance date vs. effective date (both reported as 9 October 2025) not separately confirmed.
Updates are found automatically on regulators' websites and summarised by AI. Check the official source before relying on any item.
Past weekly briefingsVARA penalised 19 firms found offering unlicensed virtual asset services to or from Dubai and issued a public warning naming them; VASPs and the public should verify counterparties against VARA's public register before dealing with them.