The latest programme launched by DFF will include incubation and acceleration phases designed to allow students to start their entrepreneurial journey by equipping them with skills and services. Pawan Singh / The National
The latest programme launched by DFF will include incubation and acceleration phases designed to allow students to start their entrepreneurial journey by equipping them with skills and services. Pawan Singh / The National
The latest programme launched by DFF will include incubation and acceleration phases designed to allow students to start their entrepreneurial journey by equipping them with skills and services. Pawan Singh / The National
The latest programme launched by DFF will include incubation and acceleration phases designed to allow students to start their entrepreneurial journey by equipping them with skills and services. Pawan

Dubai issues a new law to regulate family-owned businesses in the emirate


Fareed Rahman
  • English
  • Arabic

Dubai issued a new law regulating family-owned businesses in the emirate to help protect family wealth and grow their contribution to the country's economic and social development.

The new law issued by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, allows for new family ownership contracts to be formed setting out the rights and responsibilities of family members.

For the family ownership contract to become legally binding, the new law also states that all parties of the contract must be members of the same family and have a single common interest.

The contract must also “clearly define the share of each member, and parties of the contract must own all the legal rights of the monies and assets that are under the purview of the contract”, a statement issued by state news agency WAM said.

“The law is optionally applicable to existing and new family ownerships, including corporate equity securities and proprietorship,” according to the statement.

Family ownership in public joint-stock companies and movable and immovable property, however, are excluded from the new regulations, it said.

The law also regulates the articles of the family ownership contract, the structure and management of businesses, formation of boards, the authorities and responsibilities delegated to boards and management as well as their powers and limitations.

Family businesses have a long history in the Gulf and are one of the key pillars of the economy, accounting for a large chunk of the region’s non-oil gross domestic product. Roughly 80 per cent of family businesses in the GCC are at a critical transition phase of being handed over from first to the second, or from the second to the third generation, according to a study by the Family Business Council-Gulf (FBCG) and McKinsey.

Given the significance of the family businesses to the region's economy, "proactively mitigating against conflict-related risks is very important”, Omar K Alghanim, chairman of the FBCG said in May.

The UAE, on a federal and emirate level, has taken several steps to support the family owned businesses. Earlier this year , the UAE Cabinet, approved a draft law to allow family businesses to list on the country’s financial markets.

According to Dubai's new regulations, the validity of a family ownership contract can extend for up to 15 years and be renewed for a similar term following the agreement of all concerned parties.

"Dubai, home to a number of wealthy family-owned businesses and offices, is surely likely to benefit from this decision," Vijay Valecha, chief investment officer at Century Financial, said.

"A look at the [family business wealth] highlights their contribution to Dubai’s economic growth," he said, adding their holdings range across multiple sectors from retail and leisure to financial services.

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The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UK-EU trade at a glance

EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years

Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products

Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries

Smoother border management with use of e-gates

Cutting red tape on import and export of food

If you go

The flights
Etihad (etihad.com) flies from Abu Dhabi to Luang Prabang via Bangkok, with a return flight from Chiang Rai via Bangkok for about Dh3,000, including taxes. Emirates and Thai Airways cover the same route, also via Bangkok in both directions, from about Dh2,700.
The cruise
The Gypsy by Mekong Kingdoms has two cruising options: a three-night, four-day trip upstream cruise or a two-night, three-day downstream journey, from US$5,940 (Dh21,814), including meals, selected drinks, excursions and transfers.
The hotels
Accommodation is available in Luang Prabang at the Avani, from $290 (Dh1,065) per night, and at Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp and Resort from $1,080 (Dh3,967) per night, including meals, an activity and transfers.

While you're here
Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
  • Priority access to new homes from participating developers
  • Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
  • Flexible payment plans from developers
  • Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
  • DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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