Middle East Common Law
Regulated financial services, ADGM (Abu Dhabi Global Market)
FSRA grants permissions across asset management, banking, insurance, and virtual assets under a Common Law framework modelled on the UK FCA.
FSRA Rulebook aligned with international standardsOver 130 authorised firms operating in the zoneRegLab sandbox active since 2016
Start setup {placement} 4 min · no card required
Corp tax
9%
Fastest setup
3-5 weeks
Tax treaties
115
Region
Middle East
What you'll need
- No resident director required
- Local registered office required
- Economic-substance test applies
- Minimum capital: No minimum capital
- Administrative language: English
- Legal system: Common law
Tax and treaty profile
- Corporate tax 9%
- Effective rate ~0%
- Tax treaties 115
- VAT rate 5%
- Withholding on dividends 0%
Key treaty partners
UKFranceGermanyIndiaChinaSingapore
Banking and payments
- Banking is straightforward
- Stripe supported
- Mercury supported
- Wise supported
- Crypto banking available
- EMI license framework available
Considerations
Founders without GCC substance
QFZP status requires adequate substance, qualifying activity, and arm's length pricing. Shell structures lose the 0% rate and fall back to 9% federal CIT.
Substance test reviewed annually by FTAOffice space and qualified staff effectively mandatoryTransfer pricing documentation from AED 50m revenue