Marketing Foreign Funds Into The UAE: Update

This article summarises the current position as regards the promotion of foreign funds into the UAE on a cross-border basis.

Since our September 2016 update on the new UAE fund regulations (Chairman Resolution No. (9) R.M. of 2016 Concerning the Regulation on Mutual Funds) ("2016 Fund Regulations"), the UAE Securities and Commodities Authority ("SCA") has released further promotion regulations which cover the promotion of foreign funds in the UAE (Chairman Resolution Decision No. (3/R.M) of 2017 Concerning Regulation of Promotion and Introduction) ("2017 Promotion Regulations"). 

The 2017 Promotion Regulations have been in place for six months now and, despite some initial uncertainties, by and large the status quo has remained unchanged with regards to the offering foreign funds into the UAE with limited UAE regulatory impact. However, we note there is now an increasing focus by UAE regulators on cross-border activities and we anticipate there will be some