Regulations made by the Meydan City Corporation under Dubai Law No. 5 of 2009 governing incorporation of companies and branches in Meydan Free Zone, licensing, shareholder and director obligations, accounts, liquidation, investigations and sanctions, and disapplying Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2021 within the zone; effective on signature. The PDF is served from the Authority's content delivery network.
The Meydan Free Zone Companies and Licensing Regulations 2022 are the company and licensing code for every company and branch in Meydan Free Zone. Regulation 1 brings them into force on the date of their signature and lets the Authority amend them; Regulation 2 records that they are made under the Authority's power under Dubai Law No. 5 of 2009 establishing the Meydan City Corporation, govern companies and branches within the Authority, and provide that Federal Law No. 32 of 2021 on commercial companies does not apply within the Authority. Challenges to the Authority's decisions go to its designated committee, whose decisions are final (Regulation 3).
A Meydan company is a limited liability company with a minimum of one and a maximum of one hundred shareholders and a legal personality separate from its shareholders (Regulation 5); companies and foreign companies may establish branches, which have no separate personality (Regulation 7); and a qualifying non-Meydan entity may redomicile into the zone (Regulation 8). Part 3 is the licensing core: no person may carry on an activity within the Authority without incorporation or establishment and a licence (Regulation 9); a licensee may carry out only the activity on its valid licence (Regulation 11); the licence must be renewed before the current term expires (Regulation 13); and the Authority may suspend or cancel for breach, unpaid fees, insolvency, cessation of the activity, sanctions exposure or misleading information, with no appeal (Regulation 14).
Part 4 requires a registered address within the Authority (Regulation 16), notification of changes within fifteen Business Days for companies and thirty for branches (Regulation 17), and retention of information and documents for at least seven years (Regulation 18). Share transfers are notified to the Authority within ten Business Days (Regulation 25). Every company must at all times have at least one director and one general manager, notified within ten Business Days (Regulation 28), and Part 8 codifies their duties of good faith, independent judgment, reasonable care and declaration of interests (Regulations 31 to 41).
Audited financial statements must be submitted to the Authority within 30 days of a request (Regulation 42). Winding up is by shareholders' voluntary liquidation on a special resolution not older than thirty days and a solvency statement, by creditors' voluntary liquidation, or by court order (Regulations 46 to 48). Part 13 requires compliance with UAE and Dubai law and the listed federal anti-money-laundering, economic substance, beneficial ownership and sanctions instruments, allows the Authority to demand information within five Business Days, enter premises and investigate, and to impose fines of a value it decides, directions, disqualification, suspension and revocation (Regulations 50 to 54). The Authority sponsors the employees supplied to the company (Regulation 55). The Regulations are in force; the text is published through the Authority's rules and regulations page and carries no signature date.
Every limited liability company incorporated in Meydan Free Zone, every branch of a UAE or foreign company established there, their shareholders, directors and general managers, and applicants for licences; the Meydan Free Zone Authority administers, licenses, inspects and sanctions them under the Regulations.
| Regulation 1 | The Regulations come into force on the date of their signature, are cited as the Meydan Free Zone Companies and Licensing Regulations 2022 and may be amended by the Authority. |
| Regulation 2 | Made under the Authority's power under Dubai Law No. 5 of 2009; they govern companies and branches within the Authority, and UAE Federal Law No. 32 of 2021 on commercial companies does not apply within the Authority. |
| Regulation 5 | A company is a limited liability company with a minimum of one and a maximum of one hundred shareholders and a legal personality separate from its shareholders; it must be incorporated and licensed by the Authority. |
| Regulation 9 | No person may carry on, or purport to carry on, any activity within the Authority without being incorporated or established there and holding a licence, unless exempt. |
| Regulation 11 | A licensee may carry out only the activity permitted on its valid licence, may not transfer the licence without approval, and the Authority may grant, refuse, vary or withdraw licences. |
| Regulation 14 | The Authority may suspend or cancel a licence for breach of the Regulations, unpaid fees, insolvency, ceasing the activity, sanctions exposure or furnishing misleading or inaccurate information; reasons are given on request but no appeal is allowed. |
| Regulation 17 | Changes to the company's or branch's particulars must be notified within fifteen Business Days for companies and thirty Business Days for branches. |
| Regulation 18 | All information and documents must be retained for at least seven years from the date of creation, electronically or otherwise. |
| Regulation 25 | A share transfer requires a signed instrument; the register is updated within two Business Days and the Authority is notified within ten Business Days. |
| Regulation 28 | A company must at all times have at least one director and at least one general manager, appointed and removed by ordinary resolution and notified to the Authority within ten Business Days. |
| Regulation 42 | Accounting records must show transactions and the financial position, and audited financial statements must be submitted to the Authority within 30 days of its request. |
| Regulation 54 | Sanctions: a fine of a value decided by the Authority, directions to cease or remedy a breach, disqualification of individuals, suspension of the licence and revocation of the licence. |
Regulation 54 lets the Authority impose a fine the value of which it decides, direct the licensee to cease or remedy a breach, impose further fines, disqualify individuals, suspend the licence or revoke it. Regulation 14 lists the grounds for suspension or cancellation, including unpaid fees and misleading information, without appeal; Regulation 20 lets the Authority suspend services and licences for unpaid invoices and apply deposits to debts; and Regulation 50 provides that failure to supply required information results in cancellation of the company's or branch's licence. No fixed fine amounts appear in the Regulations.
Meydan Free Zone is one of our busiest formation jurisdictions and these Regulations set the filing discipline for every company we set up there. We register the director and general manager at incorporation and file any change within ten Business Days under Regulation 28, notify other changes within fifteen Business Days under Regulation 17, and run the renewal before expiry under Regulation 13, because Regulation 14 lets the Authority cancel without appeal. Regulation 42 does not require an annual audit to be filed, but the Authority may call for audited statements on 30 days' notice, so we keep clients' books audit-ready. The compliance list in Regulation 50 is the basis for the AML, economic substance and beneficial ownership files we maintain for each Meydan client. When a Meydan client's business moves into the Dubai mainland we add the DET branch licence or permit under Executive Council Resolution No. (11) of 2025.
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