Commercial Register Executive Regulations

Details the national Economic Register kept by the Ministry of Economy, which holds commercial-register data plus trademark, commercial-agency, patent and design records and assigns each establishment an Economic Register Number; local and free-zone authorities must link their register data instantaneously or within three working days, correct entries within three days, and give one month's notice before deregistration.

Official title
Cabinet Resolution No. (107) of 2022 Promulgating the Executive Regulations of Federal Decree-Law No. (37) of 2021 Concerning the Commercial Register
Instrument
Cabinet Resolution No. 107 of 2022
Issued by
UAE Cabinet
Jurisdiction
UAE Federal
Dates
issued 7 December 2022
Status
in force
Topics
Company law · Licensing
Official source
uaelegislation.gov.ae · official text (PDF)
Verified
29 October 2026

Summary

Cabinet Resolution No. 107 of 2022 is the executive regulation of the Commercial Register Law, Federal Decree-Law No. 37 of 2021. Issued on 7 December 2022, it takes effect the day after its publication in the Official Gazette (Article 18). It sets out what each licensing authority's commercial register must hold, how entries are made, corrected, renewed and removed, and how that data feeds the national Economic Register kept by the Ministry of Economy.

Article 1 defines the Competent Authority as the local licensing authority in each emirate and includes the free-zone authorities that are empowered to issue licences, so free-zone companies are inside the system. Article 2 lists the register contents: establishment data (identifiers, trade name, licence details, legal form, capital, address, branches, activity and manager), owner data, management data and beneficial-owner data. Article 3 leaves the registration requirements to the Competent Authority but names the documents an applicant provides, including the trade-name reservation certificate, proof of capacity, identity documents of managers and shareholders and the constitutive documents of any corporate shareholder.

The operating rules carry short deadlines. Under Article 4 the Competent Authority may annotate the register on its own initiative within 3 working days after a government decision changes an establishment's data or a registration is not renewed. Article 5 requires any material or procedural error to be corrected within 3 working days of discovery or of a correction request. Article 6 governs renewal, which keeps the original registration number and depends on sector approvals and a certified lease. Article 7 obliges every registered person to use and show the Commercial Register Number on documents, printed material, third-party dealings and its website.

Articles 8 to 10 cover deregistration and re-registration: deregistration follows cessation of activity, closure, merger or practising an unlicensed activity; where the authority initiates it, the establishment is notified and has one month to respond; re-registration needs a fresh application and fee. Article 11 requires courts to send final judgments affecting an establishment to the Competent Authority within 5 working days, and Article 12 lets mortgages over a business and its trade name, trademarks and other intellectual property be recorded in the register.

Articles 13 to 16 build the Economic Register. The Ministry keeps it, assigns each establishment an Economic Register Number to be used in dealings with government entities, and holds trademark, commercial-agency and industrial-property data alongside the register data. The Ministry and the Competent Authority may publish specified data online, interested persons may request extracts, and Article 16 requires each Competent Authority to share and link its data with the Economic Register instantaneously or, if a technical problem prevents that, within 3 working days. The Resolution contains no fee schedule and no penalty article; sanctions come from the Decree-Law. Status: in force, no amendment recorded.

Who it applies to

Every establishment registered with a mainland economic department or a licence-issuing free-zone authority, its owners, managers and beneficial owners, and the Competent Authorities that keep the registers; the Ministry of Economy as keeper of the national Economic Register; and courts that issue judgments affecting registered establishments.

Key provisions

Article 1Definitions; the Competent Authority is the licensing authority in each emirate and expressly includes the free-zone authorities vested with the power to issue licences.
Article 2The commercial register holds establishment data (identifiers, trade name, licence, legal form, capital, address, branches, activity, manager), owner data, management data and beneficial-owner data.
Article 3The Competent Authority sets and publishes its registration requirements; applicants supply the trade-name reservation, proof of capacity, identity documents of managers and shareholders and the constitutive documents of corporate shareholders.
Article 5A material or procedural error in the register must be corrected within 3 working days of its discovery or of a correction request.
Article 7Registered persons must use and show the Commercial Register Number on all documents, printed material, dealings with third parties and their website.
Article 9Where the Competent Authority initiates deregistration it notifies the establishment, which has one month to respond; voluntary deregistration is by application with supporting documents.
Article 13The Ministry keeps the Economic Register, assigns each establishment an Economic Register Number for use in dealings with government entities and holds trademark, commercial-agency and industrial-property data in it.
Article 16Each Competent Authority must share and link its register data with the Economic Register instantaneously, or within 3 working days where a technical problem prevents it.
Article 18Published in the Official Gazette and in force from the day following publication.

Obligations and deadlines

  • Show the Commercial Register Number on all documents, printed material, third-party dealings and the website.
  • Respond within one month to a Competent Authority notice that it intends to deregister the establishment.
  • Competent Authorities correct register errors within 3 working days and link data to the Economic Register instantaneously or within 3 working days.
  • Courts send final judgments affecting a registered establishment to the Competent Authority within 5 working days.

Penalties

The Resolution has no penalty article of its own. Sanctions for failing to register, to update register data or to use the registration number come from the administrative penalties regime of Federal Decree-Law No. 37 of 2021.

In practice — how Polaris handles it

This Resolution explains two things our clients see without knowing why: the Economic Register Number printed on their licence, and the speed with which a change filed with one authority shows up in a bank's or another authority's records. Because free-zone authorities are Competent Authorities under Article 1, a DMCC, RAKEZ or IFZA company's data is linked to the national register in the same way as a mainland LLC's. We therefore file trade-name, activity, manager and shareholder changes promptly and check that the register entry matches the memorandum and the beneficial-owner filing, since a mismatch is corrected by the authority within 3 working days and can surface in a bank's KYC review. For clients winding down, we respond inside the one-month window when an authority starts deregistration, and we make sure the registration number appears on letterheads, invoices and the website as Article 7 requires.

Related instruments

Related Polaris services

Source and verification. This page was written from the official text published at uaelegislation.gov.ae, read on 29 October 2026. Quoted from that text: “The persons governed by the provisions hereof shall be obligated to use and mention the Commercial Register Number”
This summary is published for general information by Polaris Corporate Services FZ-LLC, a licensed Trust and Corporate Service Provider. It is not legal advice and does not replace the official text, which prevails in case of difference. Arabic is the authoritative language of UAE federal and emirate legislation; English translations are provided by the issuing authorities. Instruments change: check the status and the official source before relying on this page.

Begin a Conversation

Whether you are establishing a new venture, restructuring an existing enterprise, or exploring residency pathways — we are here to advise.

Arrange a Consultation →