ADGM Commercial Licensing Regulations 2025

ADGM's licensing statute from 28 October 2025, replacing the 2015 Regulations: no one may carry on a controlled activity in or from ADGM without a Registration Authority licence, licences must be renewed before expiry, and contraventions carry fines up to level 9 on the Fines Scale.

Summary

The Commercial Licensing Regulations 2025 decide who may carry on business in or from the Abu Dhabi Global Market. They came into force on publication on 28 October 2025 and repeal the Commercial Licensing Regulations 2015 (section 48(4)). The consolidated version of June 2026 includes the Amendment No. 1 Regulations 2026, which added supplementary operating addresses and a general false-statement contravention.

The core is the general prohibition in section 1: no person may carry on a controlled activity in or from ADGM, or purport to do so, unless it is a licensed person or an exempt person. The Regulations do not list the controlled activities themselves; section 2 leaves that to Board rules, currently the Controlled Activities Rules 2025(A), which cover financial, legal, accountancy, audit, company and tax services, single family office activities and any other economic activity carried on by way of business. Registered auditors under the Companies Regulations 2020 are deemed licensed for audit services.

The Registrar grants a licence on application (sections 9 and 10) when the applicant meets the conditions of licence set in Board rules. The licence states the licensed activities, the principal address and any approved supplementary operating address, and its issue and expiry dates. A licence does not replace any other approval required in ADGM, including under Federal law, and no other approval replaces the licence (section 10(7) and (8)).

Section 11 governs renewal: an application may be made no earlier than one month before expiry; a renewal approved within one month after expiry is treated as continuous, and a later one attracts a late renewal fee. A licensee that does not intend to renew must tell the Registrar within one month after expiry how it will close its operations, registration or incorporation in ADGM.

Part 3 controls business names and requires the individuals and partnerships it covers to show their names and a service address on letters, orders, invoices, receipts and payment demands, and at their premises. Fines are set as levels on the Fines Scale: up to level 9 for breaching the general prohibition or exceeding a licence, level 8 for false statements, level 6 for false claims to be licensed and for a renewal left outstanding, and level 3 for wind-down and disclosure failures.

Who it applies to

Every person, natural or legal, that carries on or claims to carry on a controlled activity in or from ADGM; licensed persons and their renewals; exempt persons; and individuals and partnerships covered by the business-name disclosure rules.

Contents

English official text in 50 sections. Open the full text or jump to a provision:

1. Section 1 — The general prohibition
2. Section 2 — Controlled activities
3. Section 3 — Contravention of the general prohibition
4. Section 4 — Licensed persons exceeding scope of licence
5. Section 5 — False claims to be licensed or exempt
6. Section 6 — Partnerships
7. Section 7 — Withdrawal of licence
8. Section 8 — Exemption orders
9. Section 9 — Application for a licence
10. Section 10 — Granting licences
11. Section 11 — Renewal of licences
12. Section 12 — Granting licences: special cases
13. Section 12A — Supplementary operating addresses
14. Section 12B — Supplementary operating address statement of policy
15. Section 13 — Variation by Registrar at request of licensed person
16. Section 14 — Applications under this Part
17. Section 15 — Determination of applications
18. Section 16 — Right to refer matters to the court
19. Section 17 — Power to make rules
20. Section 18 — Modification or waiver of rules
21. Section 19 — Publication of directions under section 18
22. Section 20 — Limit on effect of contravening rules
23. Section 21 — Rule-making instruments
24. Section 22 — Verification of rules
25. Section 23 — Power of the Registrar to give guidance
26. Section 24 — Service of notices
27. Section 25 — Application of this Chapter
28. Section 26 — Name suggesting connection with government or public authority
29. Section 27 — Other sensitive words or expressions
30. Section 28 — Withdrawal of Board's approval
31. Section 29 — Name containing inappropriate indication of company type or legal form
32. Section 30 — Name giving misleading indication of activities
33. Section 31 — Application of this Chapter
34. Section 32 — Information required to be disclosed
35. Section 33 — Disclosure required: business documents etc
36. Section 34 — Exemption for large partnerships if certain conditions met
37. Section 35 — Disclosure required: business premises
38. Section 36 — Consequences of failure to make required disclosure: contraventions
39. Section 37 — Consequences of failure to make required disclosure
40. Section 38 — Interpretation
41. Section 39 — Definitions
42. Section 40 — Carrying on controlled activities in the Abu Dhabi Global Market
43. Section 41 — Parent and subsidiary undertaking
44. Section 42 — Group
45. Section 43 — Meaning of "participating interest"
46. Section 44 — Controller
47. Section 45 — Disregarded holdings
48. Section 46 — Manager
49. Section 47 — General false statement contravention
50. Section 48 — Short title, extent and commencement

Key provisions

Obligations and deadlines

• Hold a licence for every controlled activity carried on in or from ADGM before starting it.
• Carry on controlled activities only within the scope and from the addresses stated in the licence.
• Apply for renewal no earlier than one month before the licence expires.
• If not renewing, tell the Registrar within one month after expiry how operations will be closed.
• Use a supplementary operating address only as approved and on the Registrar's conditions.
• Show the required names and service address on business documents and at business premises.

Penalties

Fines are set as levels on the Fines Scale: up to level 9 for carrying on a controlled activity without a licence or outside its scope (sections 3 and 4), level 8 for a false statement (section 47), level 6 for falsely claiming to be licensed or exempt and for a renewal left outstanding beyond the late-fee period (sections 5 and 11(5)), and level 3 for failing to notify or complete a wind-down after non-renewal and for business-name disclosure failures (sections 11(8), 34 and 36). Late renewal also attracts a late renewal fee set by Board rules.

History and citations

“Cites” and “Cited by” are built automatically from references in the full texts held in this library; they cover only instruments in the library.

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