Dubai and the United Arab Emirates

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Dubai created in 2022 the first regulator in the world devoted solely to virtual assets. Law No. 4 of 2022 Regulating Virtual Assets in the Emirate of Dubai was issued on 28 February 2022. It established the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) as a public corporation with authority over virtual-asset activities in the Emirate, including its free zones. The Dubai International Financial Centre is excluded, because the Dubai Financial Services Authority regulates there under its own rulebook.¹ VARA published its rulebooks in February 2023 and has since licensed exchanges, brokers, custodians and advisers at a pace no other regulator matches. Abu Dhabi's ADGM has regulated virtual assets through its Financial Services Regulatory Authority since 2018 and has attracted exchanges and the treasuries of several protocol foundations.

The appeal for a Singapore or Swiss client is obvious: no personal income tax, a corporate tax of nine per cent since June 2023 with exemptions for qualifying free-zone income, a regulator that licenses within months and a government that courts the industry openly. The reservations are equally obvious. The regime is young and has been revised repeatedly. Banking for licensed firms remains harder than in Singapore. The courts of onshore Dubai apply civil law in Arabic, so that only the DIFC courts offer common-law litigation in English. And the Financial Action Task Force's listing of the United Arab Emirates as a jurisdiction under increased monitoring from March 2022 to February 2024 showed how quickly reputational risk can attach.² Part O, Chapter IV compares the UAE regime in full. In my practice Dubai appears most often as the third jurisdiction in a structure, chosen for a trading or market-making entity that needs a fast licence, while the treasury stays in Zug and the fund in Singapore.

Notes

Law No. (4) of 2022 Regulating Virtual Assets in the Emirate of Dubai, issued 28 February 2022, Art. 3 (scope: the Emirate including special development zones and free zones, excluding the Dubai International Financial Centre) and Art. 4 (establishment of the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority), text as published by the Dubai Legislation portal. ↩
FATF, "Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring", listing of the United Arab Emirates in March 2022 and removal in February 2024; UAE Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 on the Taxation of Corporations and Businesses, in force for financial years beginning on or after 1 June 2023. ↩

For general information only. This article does not constitute legal or tax advice, does not replace advice on an individual case and creates no lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the legal position as of October 2026.

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Dr Alexander Ressos, TEP

Of Counsel, KGP Legal LLC

I am Of Counsel with KGP Legal LLC in Singapore, where I work with a global client base of successful entrepreneurs and their families, independent asset managers, commodity trading houses and other commercial clients. I am a German and Swiss attorney-at-law, also admitted as a solicitor in England & Wales and in Hong Kong. I divide my time between Zug in Switzerland, Singapore and Hong Kong. Since 2017 I have advised international clients on more than 700 crypto and digital asset projects. I also have extensive experience in cross-border litigation and arbitration in Singapore, Hong Kong and other markets in South-East Asia and Greater China.

I operate across the key financial centres in South-East Asia, the Middle East and Switzerland, with a particular focus on asset protection, international tax and estate planning, as well as trusts, company administration and other fiduciary services. My philosophy is to serve as a trusted advisor working closely with my clients and to help them achieve their commercial objectives.

All Singapore law advice is provided through KGP Legal LLC, an established and duly licensed firm of Singapore advocates and solicitors.

KGP Legal LLC is a medium-sized law firm in Singapore that is capable of providing the full range of legal services and corporate administration work. Please contact me directly at [email protected] if you need any further information.

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SingaporeIQ is edited by Dr Alexander Ressos, an international business lawyer with more than 15 years of local experience in Singapore as a permanent resident, a Singapore registered foreign lawyer and managing partner of a Singapore foreign law practice. In addition to significant experience in cross-border investments and transactions, UHNWI private client work and sanctions/export controls, Dr Ressos has extensive experience in cross-border business and in crypto and digital-asset projects in Singapore, drawn from more than 700 projects since 2017.

If you are planning a company incorporation, an investment, a holding structure or a market entry through Singapore, you can reach Dr Ressos directly at [email protected]. Singapore law advice is provided by KGP Legal LLC, a licensed firm of Singapore advocates and solicitors. As a Singapore law practice, KGP Legal LLC is authorised under the Legal Profession Act 1966 to advise on Singapore law and to represent clients before the Singapore courts; foreign law practices with an office in Singapore are, as a rule, not permitted to do either. Dr Ressos and his team facilitate the full range of Singapore legal, compliance and company administration services, including company incorporation, corporate transactions, commercial contracts, crypto and digital assets, financial regulatory work and dispute resolution, including litigation in the Singapore courts. For legal, tax and fiduciary services in Switzerland, see helveticaregister.com.