Dubai

The main advantages of Dubai are, Zero income tax, zero capital gains tax, minimal crime and clear freehold title to any real estate purchases. Another big plus since the saving tax directive in the EU has been the fact that there is no reporting of interest or investments to the 27 EU member countries. Most people are also unaware that Dubai is very politically stable and is one of the fastest growing offshore centres in the world.

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General Information

Dubai is part of the United Arab Emirates, a constitutional federation of seven emirates located along the south eastern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. Qatar lies to the west, Saudi Arabia to the south and west and Oman to the north and east. The federation was formally established on 2 December 1971.

The initial development of Dubai was funded by its oil wealth but reserves are rapidly becoming depleted and the government has devoted enormous resources to developing an economy, which will prosper in the future without requiring the support of oil revenues. It has been spectacularly successful in its efforts. The national airline, Emirates, is one of the fastest growing in the world and there has been massive investment in hotels and property of all descriptions, shopping centres and other facilities for tourists. Restrictions on the ownership of land and businesses by foreigners are also being relaxed.

Dubai has long been a major port and the Jebel Ali Free Zone has attracted multinationals from around the world to take advantage of its strategic location for servicing the Gulf markets and its situation midway between east and west.

The Dubai International Financial Centre is expanding rapidly and providing stiff competition for the longer established banking institutions of Bahrain. A more recent innovation has been the adoption of the Offshore Company Regulations back in 2003, which introduced the Dubai Offshore Company, also known as the Jebel Ali Offshore Company. Dubai is already a formidable rival, in this area, to the longer established offshore financial centres such as the Bahamas, Belize, British Virgin Islands and the Seychelles.

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• 100% foreign ownership permitted
• It must have a Registered Office and a Registered Agent in Dubai. The Registered Agent must be an approved person
• It can own real estate on the Palm Islands and in various other developments by certain government owned development companies. It may not otherwise trade in Dubai.
• The company name must end with the word "Limited". Licensable activities such as banking, insurance and investment management are not permitted.
• It can maintain banking accounts in the U.A.E. and elsewhere.
• If the company maintains an office, as opposed to a Registered Agent in the Free Zone, a residence visa may be obtained for one director
• The Registrar has power to investigate its affairs and charge the costs to any office bearer of the company.

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The Dubai offshore company regulations

The options for a Dubai company formation?

In Dubai there are 2 types of companies that we can incorporation:

- Limited Liability Company (LLC):
For this type of company it is not possible to do it online without you coming to Dubai. The LLC companies being a bit more complicated to incorporate, and the right choice of the business license and the offshore zone, will necessitate that you come to Dubai and meet with our adviser/lawyer to better identify your exact needs. A weeks stay in Dubai might be required to go through all the process of setting up a new LLC company in one of Dubai's free zones.

- Free Zone Company / Offshore Status/ (FZCO):
The offshore type of company is much more simple to form. We can do everything through via the internet and mail.
However, compared to other offshore countries Dubai require some specific steps in order to form your company without coming to Dubai. You will need to print and sign and then notarize a Power of Attorney (POA) and get it apostiled by the U.A.E embassy of your country. Once you have this Legalized POA you will have to send it back to our agent so that they can incorporate the offshore Dubai company on your behalf.
If you do not wish to go through this step of POA Legalization we have 2 alternatives:
- You can come to Dubai to sign the POA and other documents, a 4 to 5 days stay will be necessary.
- Or we form a UK or US company for you and we appoint one of our staff to be Nominee Director. And our nominee director will go and get the POA legalized by the U.A.E Embassy in UK or US and send it back to our Dubai agent. This way you will have an additional holding company in UK or US that will own your Dubai entity and you will not need to get a legalized POA yourself.

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Bank account for an Offshore Dubai company:

It is almost impossible to open a bank account in Dubai for a non Emirate resident. Thus we are offering the opening of a Business Offshore account in many of our other recommended offshore centres. Our preference is Cyprus due to its location between Europe and the Middle East.