| 08 Mar 2010 |
|
New rule for offshore firms
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Monday, Mar 08, 2010
Gulf News
Dubai Dubai's Land DepartmentDubai's Land Department
will soon announce a new regulatory framework for offshore companies investing in Dubai's freehold market. The move is aimed at improving transparency.
The Land DepartmentLand Department
has halted, for a month, transactions of offshore companies due to lack of clarity. "There are currently guidelines that exist which offshore companies have to adhere to. A new set of regulations is currently awaiting approval and is due to be introduced by the end of the week. Most of the new regulations will be to monitor who the owner of the companies are, so whenever they want to sell they are able to inform the Land DepartmentLand Department," Mohammad Sultan Thani, director-general of the Dubai Land DepartmentDubai Land Department, told Gulf News yesterday.
An offshore company is a business that is incorporated outside the jurisdiction of its primary operations. The Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority in Dubai and Ras Al Khaimah Free Zone offer offshore licences in the UAE.
From the beginning of this month, offshore companies will be able to register with the Dubai Land DepartmentDubai Land Department but not as developers, according to Thani.
"They can't be developers for now, until they have the mechanism to work as a developer locally instead of offshore. The reason being, if there is a court case against an offshore developer that is not physically available here and does not follow the local laws, then it is a lot harder to carry out a judgement against them," Thani told Gulf News.
Industry experts see these new regulations as a welcome move.
Throughout February, the registration of titles for freehold properties in the name of foreign offshore companies was suspended while the Land DepartmentLand Department updated its system.
The directive, effective February 1, instructed the transaction department not to register titles in the name of foreign offshore companies. It did not affect the ownership of properties registered in the name of foreign offshore firms that were registered before February 1.
By Aya Lowe
© Gulf News 2010. All rights reserved.
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