What’s new?
The Ministry of Finance (MoF) has published its Relevant Activity Guide in order to support UAE Licensees in understanding the scope and application of the Economic Substance Regulations (ESR).
The ESR Relevant Guide provides additional guidance on the “Relevant Activities” and their associated “Core Income-Generating Activities” (“CIGAs”).
Enclosed are the key takeaways following the MoF Relevant Activity Guide, with M/HQ’s comments where appropriate.
See our previous articles on the subject:
UAE Economic Substance Law Briefing
UAE ESR Update: Guidance Released
UAE ESR Update: MoF issues clarifications on ESR and first Guidance
What’s next?
ESR took effect on 30 April 2019. There are a number of actions which relevant Licensees must be undertaking to ensure compliance – from clarifying their entity classification, to the structuring of contractual and delegation arrangements, the review and organization of their internal governance, their employment and premises arrangements and the capturing of relevant business information which will be required for the preparation and filing of reporting information to the Regulatory Authority.
Even entities not deploying a Relevant Activity should implement proper corporate governance mechanisms in order to avoid any risk of failing the Economic Substance Test.
If you operate a business in the UAE or hold shares in a UAE structure, we highly recommend that you take an active role in auditing your corporate arrangements with the view to bring in the necessary level of corporate substance.
Notification Guidance & Deadline
Following the introduction of the ESR there have been many notifications and updates issued by certain Regulatory Authorities on the filing method and deadlines for submitting their respective Licensees’ first notification.
We have summarized below the most updated information released by the Regulatory Authorities:
It is expected that the other Regulatory Authorities, that so far have not released information on the filing method and deadline of the notification, will publish their respective guidance soon following the publication of the Relevant Activity Guide by the MoF.
It is paramount that any affected Licensee assesses its existing situation, and makes sure that it is compliant with ESR in order to avoid penalties.
For more information, click here
See our Mail Alert Get in touch – To get the latest Mail Alerts
UAE ESR Update: ESR Notification Deadline Tracker [3.0]
UAE ESR Update: ESR Notification Deadline Tracker [2.0]
UAE ESR Update: DMCC issues Economic Substance Notification template
UAE ESR Update: ESR Notification Deadline Tracker
UAE ESR Update: Ministry of Finance (MoF) publishes Relevant Activity Guide
UAE ESR Update: Notification procedure and deadline for DIFC Licensees
Economic Substance Notification procedure and deadline for DIFC Licensees
UAE ESR Update: Economic Substance Notification procedure and deadline for RAK ICC Licensees