Licensable activity
Regulated financial services
Taking deposits, managing money, advising on investments, arranging credit, insurance, payments and brokerage. In the UAE these are not activities you buy on a trade licence — they are permissions granted by a financial regulator after an application process.
Classification
How it is coded.
UAE activity lists derive from ISIC Revision 4, the United Nations industrial classification. Each emirate's economic department and each free zone then extends that base with its own numbering, so the same activity carries a different code in Dubai than it does in Sharjah or inside DMCC.
- ISIC Rev. 4
- Section K — Financial and insurance activities (divisions 64–66)
- Licence category
- Regulated — financial free zone or Central Bank
- Regulator
- DFSA (DIFC) · FSRA (ADGM) · Central Bank of the UAE · Securities and Commodities Authority
Approvals beyond the licence
- DIFC
- Dubai Financial Services Authority. English common law, its own courts, a full prudential regime.
- ADGM
- Financial Services Regulatory Authority. Equivalent framework in Abu Dhabi, often at lower cost.
- Onshore UAE
- Central Bank for banking, finance companies, exchange houses and insurance; SCA for securities and commodities.
In practice
Regulatory capital, a compliance officer, a money laundering reporting officer, audited systems and a business plan the regulator believes are all prerequisites rather than aspirations. Timelines run in months.
Coverage
Where it can be licensed.
Of the 40 licensing authorities across the UAE, 2 issue licences covering this activity, spread across 2 of the seven emirates.