CMA Decision No. 27/Chairman of 2023 · UAE Federal
Amending instrument that changes the Regulations Manual of the Financial Activities (Rulebook) (CMA Decision No. 13/Chairman of 2021). The CMA has consolidated its changes into the current text of the amended regulation and keeps this instrument in its archive of amending regulations.
Chairman's Resolution No. (27/Chairman) of 2023 amended the Regulations Manual of the Financial Activities (the Rulebook) to bring virtual asset service providers into it. The amendment notes in the CMA's consolidated Rulebook record it as issued on 3 May 2023 and in force on 16 May 2023. The CMA keeps the instrument in its archive of amending regulations but does not publish its text.
The notes attribute these changes to it: new definitions of Virtual Assets, Virtual Assets Service Providers, Virtual Assets Platform Operator, Virtual Assets Broker, Custody of Virtual Assets and Technological capabilities; amended definitions of Brokers, Financial Products, Financial Consultancies and Portfolios Management; changes to the technical-systems condition in the licensing requirements (Section Two, Chapter 4, Article 2, Clause 12) and to the tasks of several approved jobs, including a new paragraph for the trading manager; amendments to Article 12 of the Business Practice section, which now covers custody and custody of virtual assets; and a new Seventh Category (Virtual Assets Services Providers) in Annex 1. As the consolidated Annex now reads, that category sets minimum capital of AED 2 million for a virtual assets broker, AED 4 million plus six months' operating expenses for custody of virtual assets, and AED 1 million plus six months' operating expenses for a platform operator that conducts no other virtual asset activity, rising to AED 5 million plus six months' operating expenses where it does.
The CMA has since issued a separate Virtual Asset Service Providers and ATS Regulation (Resolution No. 4/Chairman of 2026), listed separately in this library; this record dates the 2023 changes to the Rulebook.
Virtual asset brokers, custodians and platform operators licensed by the CMA or applying under the Rulebook, and other licensed firms affected by the widened definitions of brokers, financial products, consultancy and portfolio management.
Virtual-asset founders often ask us which regulator applies to them. We map the activity against the CMA, VARA and free-zone regimes, explain the capital and operating-expense buffers each route requires, form the company around the chosen route, and coordinate with licensed compliance firms and the regulator's portal. We are not licensed by the CMA or VARA and provide no virtual-asset services; once the licence is in place we keep the corporate records, UBO, AML and tax compliance in order.
| Amends | CMA Decision No. 13/Chairman of 2021 |
“Cites” and “Cited by” are built automatically from references in the full texts held in this library; they cover only instruments in the library.
Regulations Manual of the Financial Activities (Rulebook)
Issues the Regulations Manual of the Financial Activities (the CMA rulebook): licensing categories and requirements for financial activities, approved jobs, business cond…
Virtual Asset Service Providers and ATS Regulation
Issues the regulation of virtual asset service providers and alternative trading system operators: licensing categories and in-principle approval, systems, controls and c…
Former Virtual Assets Regulation (2023)
Chairman decision regulating virtual assets and their service providers, repealed by Decision No. 04/Chairman of 2026 on virtual asset service providers and alternative t…
Federal Virtual Assets Regulation
The federal framework for virtual assets outside the financial free zones. It makes the Securities and Commodities Authority the federal licensing authority for virtual a…
Dubai Virtual Assets Law (VARA)
Establishes the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) as a public corporation affiliated with the Dubai World Trade Centre Authority and empowers it to license…
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