A low-tax federal regime with two common-law enclaves, the DIFC and ADGM, offering English-language courts, independent regulators, and internationally recognized corporate and trust vehicles for Gulf-facing holding structures, family offices, and funds.
The United Arab Emirates pairs a business-friendly, low-tax federal regime with two of the most sophisticated common-law financial enclaves in the world, the Dubai International Financial Centre and the Abu Dhabi Global Market, each with its own English-language courts, independent regulator, and internationally recognized corporate, fund, and fiduciary vehicles.
That combination is why the UAE has become a principal hub for Gulf-facing holding structures, single- and multi-family offices, investment funds, and regional headquarters that bridge Europe, Africa, and South Asia. A sponsor can place a common-law holding or succession vehicle in the ADGM, where English common law applies directly, or in the DIFC under its codified Companies Law, while keeping operating substance onshore where mainland market access matters. The two free zones are not interchangeable. The choice between them turns on the precise vehicle, the regulator a matter will face, and how the structure interacts with the onshore federal regime.
Which of them fits turns on the vehicle, the regulator the matter will face, and how the structure meets the onshore federal regime; we scope that choice with counsel admitted in the DIFC, the ADGM, or onshore. Hart David Carson LLP does not provide UAE-licensed legal services; the firm's role is facilitation and partner-network coordination, delivered alongside locally admitted counsel in the DIFC, ADGM and onshore. Any structure is matter-specific and subject to local regulatory requirements.
We scope the platform first. A mainland LLC or free-zone establishment houses operations; a DIFC or ADGM private company limited by shares, or a foundation, gives a common-law holding layer under English common law applied directly in the ADGM or the DIFC's codified Companies Law. Registration with the ADGM Registration Authority or DIFC Registrar of Companies typically takes days.
We coordinate the succession vehicle: a common-law trust under the DIFC Trust Law or the ADGM Trusts Regulations, or a DIFC or ADGM Foundation, the orphan structure Gulf families favor for governance and asset consolidation because it suits civil-law expectations. Either can sit over a family office or prescribed company; the registrar and locally admitted counsel confirm the fit.
The UAE offers deep regional and international banking, though correspondent relationships and onboarding now involve rigorous enhanced due diligence, know-your-customer and source-of-wealth review consistent with FATF expectations. Free-zone entities, family offices and funds can access local and international banks; demonstrable substance and clear beneficial-ownership documentation materially smooth account opening. We coordinate introductions through our partner network. No bank's credit or onboarding decision is ours to make.
We coordinate fund and manager licensing with locally admitted counsel under the DFSA's Collective Investment Funds regime or the FSRA's rulebook. The categories run from exempt and qualified-investor funds to public funds, the ADGM venture-capital and DIFC fund frameworks among them, and both centers host GP/LP structures and family investment vehicles. The category sets investor base, disclosure and launch timing.
Financial activity in the free zones is licensed and supervised by the DFSA or the FSRA; onshore financial and securities activity falls under the Central Bank of the UAE and the Securities and Commodities Authority. The UAE maintains an AML/CFT regime aligned to FATF standards, economic-substance and ultimate-beneficial-owner reporting, and a VARA virtual-asset framework in Dubai alongside the ADGM and DFSA crypto regimes. We help map the governing rulebook and coordinate matters before the relevant regulator with locally admitted counsel.
The 9% federal corporate tax applies for financial years beginning on or after 1 June 2023, so we work with locally admitted tax advisers on whether a free-zone entity meets the conditions for qualifying free-zone person status and a 0% rate on qualifying income. VAT runs at 5%. An extensive treaty network supports the structure; CRS and FATCA reporting follows.
Engagement runs through the free-zone registrars and regulators (the ADGM Registration Authority and FSRA, and the DIFC Registrar of Companies and DFSA), together with federal ministries and the relevant emirate authorities. Licensing, substance, and approvals are handled with registered agents and locally admitted advisers.
Hart David Carson coordinates a facilitation and partner network of UAE registered agents, corporate-services providers, and free-zone formation agents, so incorporation, prescribed-company, and family-office set-up proceed in step with the regulator's expectations.
Fiduciaries administer DIFC and ADGM trusts and foundations, while banking introducers open doors at local and international institutions. The firm coordinates the relationships; the credit and onboarding decisions remain with the providers and banks.
Across the DIFC, the ADGM, and onshore, licensed legal work, including opinions, regulatory filings, and matters before the DFSA, FSRA, CBUAE, or SCA, is carried by locally admitted counsel. Hart David Carson coordinates the engagement. It does not provide UAE-licensed legal services or operate a local office in the Emirates.
Hart David Carson can help scope a UAE structure and coordinate formation, licensing, and banking introductions through its partner network and locally admitted counsel, from the first conversation about which of the DIFC, the ADGM, or an onshore presence fits the objective, through to a working entity with its accounts and approvals in place.
Scoping comes first. We clarify the commercial purpose, the vehicle, the regulator a structure will face, and the substance and reporting it will need to carry. From there we coordinate the registered agents, corporate-services providers, and fiduciaries who execute the formation, while locally admitted counsel handle the licensed work and any matters before the DFSA, FSRA, Central Bank of the UAE, or Securities and Commodities Authority. Banking introductions run in parallel through our partner network, supported by the substance and beneficial-ownership documentation that onboarding now requires.
Each engagement is scoped to its own facts and to local regulatory requirements. The firm coordinates the work and remains one point of contact across time zones. It does not provide UAE-licensed legal services, and it speaks for its clients, never for a regulator.
Prepared by Hart David Carson LLP · Reviewed by Jonathan D. Herpy, Sr. · Last updated October 2026 · Educational overview · Not legal advice · Local law advice comes from locally admitted counsel.
Source of law and regulator. The mainland runs on federal civil law, with the Central Bank of the UAE and the SCA supervising financial activity. The two free zones are common-law enclaves with English-language courts: the ADGM applies English common law directly under the FSRA; the DIFC applies its own codified Companies Law and Trust Law under the DFSA. A common-law vehicle needs a free zone; mainland market access needs an onshore presence. We scope that with locally admitted counsel.
Yes, and choosing between them is the first question. A common-law trust is available under the DIFC Trust Law or the ADGM Trusts Regulations; a DIFC or ADGM Foundation is an orphan structure that Gulf and other families from civil-law countries, where trusts are unfamiliar, widely use for governance, succession and asset consolidation. In practice the vehicle is often paired with a family office or prescribed company, and the registrar and locally admitted counsel confirm the fit before assets move.
Lightly, but not at zero. A 9% federal corporate tax applies for financial years beginning on or after 1 June 2023, and value-added tax runs at 5%. A free-zone entity can still reach a 0% rate on qualifying income if it meets the qualifying free-zone person conditions, so substance in the zone, corporate-tax registration and annual filings must be planned. The extensive double-tax-treaty network, the OECD Common Reporting Standard and FATCA apply, and locally admitted tax advisers confirm each position.
UAE banking is deep, but correspondent relationships and onboarding now involve rigorous enhanced due diligence, know-your-customer and source-of-wealth review consistent with FATF expectations. Free-zone entities, family offices and funds can access local and international banks; demonstrable substance and clear beneficial-ownership documentation materially smooth account opening. We coordinate banking introductions through our partner network but do not control any bank's credit or onboarding decision.
Hart David Carson LLP does not provide UAE-licensed legal services or operate as a local office in the Emirates. The firm coordinates a facilitation and partner network of UAE registered agents, corporate-services providers, free-zone formation agents, fiduciaries, and banking introducers, working alongside locally admitted counsel in the DIFC, ADGM, and onshore. Engagements are matter-specific and subject to local regulatory requirements.
The UAE maintains an AML/CFT regime aligned to FATF standards together with economic-substance and ultimate-beneficial-owner reporting. Virtual assets are addressed through Dubai's VARA framework alongside the ADGM and DFSA crypto regimes, so the applicable rulebook depends on where the activity is licensed. We help map which framework governs a given activity and coordinate matters before the relevant regulator with locally admitted counsel.
Home to the Qatar Financial Centre, an onshore platform with 100% foreign ownership, an independent regulator and court, QFC trusts and foundations, and a competitive tax regime.
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