Who This is for
Investors and administrators are familiar with common law vehicles, and a holding entity in a jurisdiction with recognised courts is easier to explain to a bank, a counterparty and an acquirer.
Asset management, advisory, arranging, custody, payments and crypto-asset activity require an FSRA permission — and the permission, not the company, is the real project.
Share classes, shareholder agreements, options and warrants behave the way a common law investor expects — and a vehicle with no decisions and no records in the UAE will not carry the treatment claimed for it.
Regulated and Non-regulated
If you are not certain which side your activity falls on, that is the first question we answer, because it changes the entire plan.
What the Jurisdiction Does Not Do for You
ADGM confers a framework. It does not confer substance, and substance is what tax authorities, banks and treaty partners actually test.
Premises and administration expectations differ sharply between a passive SPV and an operating or regulated firm. We confirm the requirement for your entity type before you commit, because the difference between a registered office and a leased office is a cost difference of a different order.
What’s Included
How it Works
Structure
What the entity is for, what sits above and below it, and whether the intended shareholding will be accepted by the registry, the fund and the bank. Non-resident and nominee-style arrangements are resolved here, before incorporation.
Entity type and name
Reserved once the structure is settled.
Documents
Constitutional documents and resolutions drafted. Corporate shareholders supply attested and legalised documents — the item that usually sets the schedule.
Incorporation filing
With the Registration Authority, including directors, shareholders and beneficial ownership.
Where regulated: the FSRA application
Business plan, financials, manuals, and the individual applications for controlled functions.
Establishment and handover
Registered office, administration, visas where needed — then the account application, corporate tax registration and the first-year reporting calendar.
What We Need from You
Most of this is a scan and an email — none of it needs to be perfect before we talk, and we tell you exactly what is missing after the first review. The exception is source-of-wealth material: it takes the longest to assemble, every ADGM file is tested on it, and starting it early is the single best way to protect the timetable.
Timeline and Cost
Non-regulated incorporation is document-led: where the shareholders are individuals it moves quickly, and where a foreign corporate parent must produce attested documents the attestation chain sets the timetable. Regulated applications run on the regulator’s schedule.
Fees are fixed and agreed in writing against a defined scope before we start, anchored to the work — the complexity of the structure, the number of entities, whether a regulatory permission is involved — never to the value of the assets held. Registry, regulator and third-party costs are shown separately, at cost.
We will tell you at assessment if we think the structure will not hold, or if the entity type you have been recommended is heavier than the purpose requires.
Company Cost CalculatorWhere it Goes Wrong
In a live matter, a non-resident shareholder arrangement beneath an existing fund was restructured before the SPV was incorporated. In that order it took a negotiation; afterwards it would have taken a new entity.
Businesses that arrange, advise, hold client money or deal in assets frequently believe they are outside the perimeter. Discovering otherwise after incorporation and banking is a serious problem, not an administrative one.
Share classes, transfer restrictions and consent rights that suit a founder and one backer routinely obstruct the next round — and amending them requires the consent of whoever the amendment disadvantages.
Registration in a common law jurisdiction is not a tax outcome. Where the directors are abroad and no records exist, the position claimed for the entity is the one most exposed on review.
Questions
What is the difference between ADGM and DIFC?
Both are common law financial centres inside the UAE with their own courts and regulators; ADGM is in Abu Dhabi and DIFC in Dubai. The practical differences lie in the legal source, the regulatory approach and the surrounding ecosystem — the comparison is set out on the DIFC page.
Can an ADGM company trade in the UAE mainland market?
Not directly as a matter of course — onshore trading is approached as for a free zone company, through a mainland entity or branch. Incorporation largely runs remotely under power of attorney.
Does an ADGM company get UAE residence visas?
Entities with an appropriate establishment arrangement can sponsor visas; a purely passive vehicle administered through a registered office generally is not the right instrument for a residency plan. We separate the two objectives at assessment.
How long does an FSRA permission take, and can you guarantee approval?
The timeline depends on the activity, the completeness of the application and how many rounds of questions follow — we will not give you a date the regulator has not given us. Nor can anyone guarantee approval. What is within our control is the quality of what it receives.
Is an ADGM SPV tax-free, and can I move an existing company in?
No entity is tax-free by virtue of where it is registered — registration and filing obligations apply, and treatment depends on the activity and income. An existing company can frequently be moved in by re-domiciliation, preserving legal identity, contracts and history.