All companies registered in the UAE are divided into types depending on the type of business and place of its registration. It may be industrial, commercial, trading or professional companies, as well as registered on the territory and outside the territory of free trade zones.
In its turn, companies founded in the Free Trade Zones are also divided into onshore and offshore.
Information related to main commercial activities of the company and owners is registered in the companies register of the relevant Emirate. Requirements of some of the Emirates on certain types of companies where it is mandatory to have a local agent - a resident of the United Arab Emirates - should be taken into account.
Local federal legislation allows registering companies with different forms – starting from limited partnership to large public companies.
Information about the company is entered into the appropriate register of companies. Since there are 7 Emirates and more than 35 free trade zones, the number of registers of companies in the UAE is very high.
In this case, the registers are not public and access to confidential information about owners and shareholders of the company is closed for access of third parties.
