Federal Decree-Law No. (20) of 2025 Amending Federal Decree-Law No. (32) of 2021 Concerning Commercial Companies

A major overhaul of the UAE Commercial Companies Law introducing multiple share classes, in-kind capital contributions, drag-along/tag-along shareholder rights, cross-emirate/free-zone re-domiciliation preserving legal identity, a reduced one-year (from two-year) lock-up for private JSC shares, and a new not-for-profit company structure. Implementation is phased over an estimated 12-24 months via follow-on ministerial/cabinet decisions (see MOE-2026-004 and MOE-2026-008 below). Issuance date sourced from secondary legal commentary as MOET's own laws page does not show a specific day.

What firms should do

Yes — review MOA/AOA and capital structure for eligibility to adopt new share classes, re-domiciliation and governance options

Regulator: Ministry of Economy — AML/CFT & Commercial Supervision
Type: Regulation Amendment
Status: Enacted
Published: 1 Oct 2025
Reference: Federal Decree-Law No. 20 of 2025
Topic: Commercial Companies
Impact: High

Read it on the regulator's website

Found automatically on the regulator's website and summarised by AI by Arakan Lexara. Not legal advice; check the official source before relying on it.

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