Emiri instrument creating RAK ICC by consolidating the RAK International Companies registry (formerly RAK Free Trade Zone) and RAK Offshore (formerly RAK Investment Authority); the RAK ICC regulations cite the amending Decree No. 4 of 2016 concerning the establishment of the International Corporate Centre as their enabling law. The decree text itself is not published on rakicc.com.
Ras Al Khaimah Decree No. 12 of 2015, as amended by Decree No. 4 of 2016, is the Emiri instrument that created the Ras Al Khaimah International Corporate Centre. The text of the decree is not published on the RAK ICC website or the RAK Government legislation portal, so this record is written from the official RAK ICC 'About us' page and from the citations of the decree in the RAK ICC regulations.
The RAK ICC page states that 'RAK ICC was created pursuant to Decree No. 12 of 2015, as amended by Decree No. 4 of 2016', by combining two existing Ras Al Khaimah company registries: RAK International Companies, which had been part of the Ras Al Khaimah Free Trade Zone, and RAK Offshore, which had been part of the Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority. The consolidated registry describes itself as one of the UAE's leading international corporate registries for private wealth and cross-border structuring, registering and administering holding companies, foundations and other corporate structures for global businesses, investment vehicles and wealth planning. It is headquartered in Ras Al Khaimah and has an office in Dubai.
The decree, in its 2016 form, is the enabling law for the whole RAK ICC rulebook. The Business Companies Regulations 2018 state at Regulation 1(2) that they are made by the board of directors of RAK ICC 'pursuant to Ras Al Khaimah Decree No. 4 of 2016 concerning the Establishment of the International Corporate Centre'; the Registered Agent Regulations 2018 and the Foundations Regulations 2019 carry the same citation. The page lists these two 2018 regulations as the instruments by which RAK ICC is governed.
The page describes the products the registry offers under that framework: companies limited by shares, companies limited by guarantee, restricted purposes companies, segregated portfolio companies and unlimited companies; the RAK ICC Foundation and the holding company as private client solutions; and transfer of domicile. All dealings with the registry go through its registered agents, for which the site maintains an agents directory and a guide on becoming one.
The decree itself has no published text to cite for scope, dates or sanctions. Its date of issue is given by its number as 2015, and the 2016 amendment is the version the regulations rely on. What a RAK ICC company may do is governed not by the decree but by Regulation 40 of the Business Companies Regulations: international business and holding activity, with activity in the UAE outside the Zone requiring the appropriate UAE licence first. The instrument is in force as amended.
The Ras Al Khaimah International Corporate Centre as a registry and public body of the Emirate, its board and Registrar, and through the regulations made under the decree, every company and foundation registered there and every certified registered agent.
| Section: About us | RAK ICC was created pursuant to Decree No. 12 of 2015, as amended by Decree No. 4 of 2016, by combining the RAK International Companies registry (formerly part of the Ras Al Khaimah Free Trade Zone) and RAK Offshore (formerly part of the Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority). |
| Section: RAK International Corporate Centre | The registry registers and administers corporate structures such as holding companies and foundations for global businesses, investment vehicles and wealth planning; it is headquartered in Ras Al Khaimah with an additional office in Dubai. |
| Section: RAK ICC is governed by the | RAK ICC is governed by the RAK ICC Business Companies Regulations 2018 and the RAK ICC Registered Agent Regulations 2018, both of which cite Decree No. 4 of 2016 as their enabling law. |
| Section: Products | Company types offered: company limited by shares, company limited by guarantee, restricted purposes company, segregated portfolio company and unlimited company; private client solutions are the RAK ICC Foundation and the holding company; transfer of domicile is available. |
| Section: Agents | Registry services are delivered through registered agents listed in an agents directory, with a published guide on how to become a registered agent. |
Banks and foreign counterparties regularly ask what RAK ICC is and under what authority it exists. We answer with the decree citation on the registry's own site, Decree No. 12 of 2015 as amended by Decree No. 4 of 2016, and the history of the two merged registries, which also explains why older certificates refer to RAK Offshore or RAK International Companies. For anything substantive we go to the regulations made under the decree: the Business Companies Regulations for what the company may do and the Registered Agent Regulations for our own licence. When a client needs the decree text itself, for example for a legal opinion abroad, we tell them it is not published and we rely on the regulations' citations and a certificate of good standing from the registry instead.
RAK ICC Business Companies Regulations 2018
Principal company law of the RAK ICC registry, made under Ras Al Khaimah Decree No. 4 of 2016: incorporation, re-registration and transitional provisions, company types (…
RAK ICC Registered Agent Regulations 2018
Regulations made under Ras Al Khaimah Decree No. 4 of 2016 governing the licensing, conduct, obligations and supervision of registered agents through whom all RAK ICC com…
RAK ICC Foundations Regulations 2019
Consolidated text of the regulations governing RAK ICC foundations, made under Ras Al Khaimah Decree No. 4 of 2016 and in force from 15 December 2019, incorporating the a…
RAK ICC Fee Schedule 2026
Official registry fee tariff effective 1 January 2026 listing RAK ICC charges in AED, including IBC incorporation (3,250 for one year), IBC renewal (3,950), foundation re…
RAK Economic Activities Law
Emirate-level law of 11 November 2016 regulating the licensing and practice of economic activities in Ras Al Khaimah, including provisions on activities within free zones…
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