Developments
Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) has taken enforcement action in 2026 against specific legal entities providing virtual asset services to customers in Dubai without the required VARA licence. On 5 March, the regulator issued alerts involving entities commercially advertising as KuCoin and MEXC. VARA followed those alerts
Business
UAE PASS is the UAE's national digital identity and digital signature platform, supporting secure access to digital services. On 20 August 2026, the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA) launched the Digital Enablers Experts (DEE) Programme through its Digital Government Academy to help technical teams in government
Developments
The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on 19 August 2026 that all trade, commercial exchanges, and financial transactions with Iran had been halted until further notice. Afra Al Hameli, Director of the ministry's Strategic Communications Department, linked the decision to regional escalations that the UAE said undermine
Developments
The Sharjah Economic Development Department (SEDD), in a joint initiative with Al Teneiji Group, has announced offices at Al Teneiji Business Centre for branches of foreign companies seeking to invest in the emirate. The move extends an earlier programme that made similar office space available to start-up investors and
Business
During each half-year reporting season, business owners see headlines about bank profits, telecom revenue, property sales, and energy earnings. These disclosures are usually treated as investor information, but they can also help SME owners understand changes in demand, pricing, costs, and operating conditions across their sector. Access is not
Business
The UAE Federal Tax Authority (FTA) published five VAT directives in July 2026, each clarifying an area where businesses had been applying the tax law inconsistently. Together they cover judicial expert services, VAT group exits, digital currency valuation, life insurance fee structures, and deemed supplies. Court expert fees and VAT
Developments
The Central Bank of the UAE has replaced its dormant accounts rules with a broader framework that reaches past banks. The Dormant Accounts and Unclaimed Funds Regulation (C 9/2025), issued on 31 December 2025 and published on the CBUAE Rulebook, applies to all licensed financial institutions. That includes banks,
Business
Starting a new job or a new level of responsibility feels exciting, but it also comes with a quiet pressure: people are already forming opinions about you before you've settled into your desk. Career transitions, whether it's a promotion, a new company, or a bigger role
Developments
The UAE Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE) is using digital monitoring, data analysis, and artificial intelligence to strengthen labour-market compliance across the private sector. One area of focus is fake Emiratisation, where a company formally registers a UAE national without a genuine working relationship. MoHRE said its
Developments
The global framework for crypto tax reporting and anti-money laundering compliance is moving from policy design into implementation. For UAE-licensed virtual asset firms, the direction is now clearer: tax transparency, Travel Rule compliance, risk assessments, and suspicious activity reporting are becoming more connected parts of the same compliance
Business
Many UAE business owners treat AML/CFT compliance as a setup task: prepare the policy, appoint a compliance officer, file the required documents, and move on. That is a risky assumption. Recent enforcement shows the UAE’s regulators are actively examining firms and acting on the gaps they find. In
Business
Most people who want to start something new spend weeks getting ready before showing it to anyone. It could be a business, a side project, a product, a service, or even a new routine. They build the full version in their head, write a long plan, then start looking for