DIFC Announces Enactment of DIFC Laws Amendment Law 2017

Dubai, UAE – 28 May 2017: Dubai International Financial Centre Authority (DIFC Authority) announced that His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, in his capacity as the Ruler of Dubai, has enacted the DIFC Laws Amendment Law, DIFC Law No. 1 of 2017 (Law).

The enactment of the Law will facilitate amendments to the Companies Law of 2009, General Partnership Law of 2004, Limited Partnership Law of 2006 and Limited Liability Partnership Law of 2004, to ensure that DIFC fully complies with the requirements set out by the OECD Global Forum on Transparency and the Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes. 

The Law introduces a new definition of “Accounting Records” into the Companies Law and the various Partnership Laws, which clarifies the type of underlying documentation to be retained by companies and partnerships in the DIFC.

This definition is prescribed by the International Standard on Auditing and is consistent with the definition used by the Dubai Financial Services Authority, to ensure that the obligation to keep underlying documentation applies evenly to all relevant entities in the DIFC.

The Registrar also proposes to make amendments to the Schedule of Fines in the Companies Law and the various Partnership Laws, in order to clarify contraventions and correct mistaken references to articles of the law creating contraventions.