CMA Decision No. 33/Chairman of 2019 · UAE Federal
Replaces the definition of “material information” in all regulations issued by the Authority with a single definition covering any information, event or decision that may affect a security’s price, trading or investors’ decisions, with an illustrative list.
Chairman's Decision No. 33 of 2019 replaced the definition of 'material information' in every regulation issued by the Securities and Commodities Authority (now the Capital Market Authority) with one definition, and aligned the disclosure and governance rules of the time with it. It was issued on 9 October 2019 and came into force 30 days after publication in the Official Gazette (Article 7); the index records 1 December 2019.
Article 1 defines material information as any information, event, decision or fact that may directly or indirectly affect the price, trading movement or volume of a security, or an investor's decision. A non-exhaustive list of 13 items follows: profit distributions; capital increases or reductions; changes to the board or senior executive management; change of activity or objects; acquisitions and mergers; restructuring, voluntary liquidation or bankruptcy of the company or a parent, subsidiary, sister or affiliate; credit ratings; changes in assets, and financial contracts concluded or cancelled, reaching 5% or more of capital; bond or sukuk issues; related-party transactions; suspension of activity; and lawsuits to which the company, a board member or senior management is a party. The Board may designate other matters as material.
Articles 2 to 4 inserted the definition into the Disclosure and Transparency Regulations (Board Decision No. 3 of 2000) and rewrote Articles 33 and 34: a listed company must notify the Authority and the market of any material information, publish explanatory information when asked, and issue a corrective announcement in the same newspaper if previously published material information changes. Articles 5 and 6 amended the definition and the website-disclosure clause (Article 35(C/1)) of the governance standards in Decision No. 7 R.M of 2016.
Status: the CMA lists the decision as in force, but both instruments it amended are now listed as superseded. Since 1 January 2026, Article 1 of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2025 contains a statutory definition of Material Information, which prevails where the two differ.
Companies and other issuers whose securities are listed on a UAE securities market, their boards and senior management, and anyone applying CMA regulations that use the term material information.
English official text in 7 articles. Open the full text or jump to a provision:
| Article 1 | Material information is any information, event, decision or fact that may directly or indirectly affect a security's price, trading movement or volume, or an investor's decision. |
| Article 1 | Illustrative list of 13 items, including dividends, capital changes, board changes, mergers, insolvency, credit ratings, asset changes or contracts of 5% or more of capital, sukuk, related-party dealings and lawsuits; the Board may add others. |
| Article 2 | Adds the definition to Article 1 (Definitions) of the Disclosure and Transparency Regulations, Board Decision No. 3 of 2000. |
| Article 3 | Rewrites Article 33 of Decision 3 of 2000: a listed company must notify the Authority and the market of any material information; the market board may publish a statement on it. |
| Article 4 | Rewrites Article 34: a listed company must publish explanatory information on request and, if published material information changes, issue a new announcement in the same newspaper. |
| Article 5 | Amends the definition of material information in Article 1 of the governance standards, Decision No. 7 R.M of 2016. |
| Article 6 | Rewrites Clause C/1 of Article 35 of Decision 7 R.M of 2016: companies publish news, events, developments and material information on their website. |
| Article 7 | Publication in the Official Gazette; in force thirty days after publication. |
The decision sets no penalties. Under Article 71 of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2025, intentionally refraining from disclosing Material Information is punishable by imprisonment of at least one year and a fine of AED 50,000 to AED 250,000,000, or either penalty.
We are not licensed by the CMA. For clients with listed securities, or private companies preparing for a listing, we use this list as a working checklist when keeping board minutes and resolutions: dividends, capital changes, board changes, related-party contracts and lawsuits are the corporate events we record as company secretary, and each may need a disclosure the listed company or its licensed advisers must make. We point clients to the statutory definition in Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2025 where the two differ.
| Cites | Former SCA Law |
“Cites” and “Cited by” are built automatically from references in the full texts held in this library; they cover only instruments in the library.
Capital Markets Law
Regulates the onshore capital market from 1 January 2026: financial activities subject to CMA licensing, capital market institutions, offering and listing of securities, …
Capital Market Authority Law
Constitutes the Capital Market Authority as legal successor to the Securities and Commodities Authority, sets its objectives, powers, board and executive structure, keeps…
Former Disclosure and Transparency Regulations
Board regulations on disclosure and transparency for listed companies and insiders, amended many times and now listed by the CMA among superseded regulations.
Former Institutional Discipline and Governance Standards
Chairman decision setting institutional discipline and governance standards for public joint stock companies, now listed by the CMA among superseded regulations.
Joint Stock Companies Governance Guide
Approves the governance guide for joint stock companies: board composition and duties, conflicts of interest, general assemblies, shareholder and stakeholder rights, boar…
Definition of Qualified Investor
Replaces the definition of “qualified investor” in all regulations issued by the Authority, listing the government bodies, institutions and persons that may manage their …
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