Lawyers Archives - Fichte & Co

September 10, 2019

OFAC Advisory on Iran Sanctions

In its September 4, 2019 Press release The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a new shipping advisory for all the Maritime community. This came as a strong warning to be vigilant of involvement with regimes or entities that Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force and its proxy Hizballah, who continue to move hundreds...

August 19, 2019

Abraaj gets Dh1.156 billion DFSA fine

Some major violations committed by Abraaj entities include carrying out unauthorised financial services. Dubai regulator on Tuesday penalised two Abraaj Group entities with a record Dh1.156 billion in fines - the biggest penalty by any regulatory authority in the UAE - for violating its regulations and deceiving investors. The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) said...

Compliance Alert: 10 Things you Must Know about the New Economic Substance Regulations in the UAE

Executive Summary The UAE recently enacted the Cabinet Decision No. 31/2019 concerning the economic substance regulations (the “Regulations” or the “Economic Substance Regulations”) on 30 April 2019 in response to the European Union (EU) adding the UAE to the blacklist of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes in March 2019. The Regulations primarily apply to companies...

UAE Reduces the Official Fees for Trademark Registration

Pursuant to Cabinet Decision no. 51 of 2019, the United Arab Emirates announced a new amended fee and fine structure where in it has cancelled the fees for 102 services and reduced the charges for other services among 110 services offered by the Ministry of Economy, including those related to intellectual property matters , as...

DIFC Proposes New Data Protection Law

On 18 June 2019, the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) issued Consultation Paper No. 6 of 2019 (“Consultation Paper”) seeking public comments on the proposal by the Dubai International Financial Centre Authority (DIFCA) to issue a new Data Protection Law aimed at enhancing the existing legal framework on data protection in the DIFC (“Proposed Law”)....

New Foreign Direct Investment Law (Federal Law No. 19 of 2018): Upto 100% Foreign Ownership in the UAE

The Government of UAE has always taken initiatives in the improvement of the economy of the country by amending the existing Law or introducing new Laws, to attract more foreign investors to the country. Among several initiatives taken by the Govt of UAE, in November last year, a law permitting 100 per cent foreign ownership...

UPDATE: New DIFC Wills and Probate Rules

The DIFC Wills and Probate Registry (WPR) has been established as an official mechanism for non-Muslims to register their wills and have it enforced through the DIFC Courts. Previously there was a lot of uncertainty with regards to the registration of wills of non-Muslims since Shari’a principles govern inheritance throughout the UAE. If an expatriate...

Fichte & Co Seminar Tackles the IMO 2020 with the Forces of UAE and Singapore

The seminar aligned both the UAE and Singapore with the vision of the International Maritime Organization as the 2020 sulphur cap lurks around the corner Fichte & Co Legal, one of the UAE’s leading law firms, has recently held an informative seminar at the JW Marriott Marquis, Business Bay in Dubai, UAE. The session tackled...

The New DIFC Employment Law- What Has Changed?

DIFC Employment Law no. 2 of 2019 (“New Law”) has recently been enacted which repeals and replaces the DIFC Law no. 4/2005 as amended by DIFC Law no. 3 of 2012 (“Previous Law”). There has been an ongoing debate about the implemented changes introduced by the New Law. Some changes have been enacted to protect...

Stranded Sailors Waited 28 Months for this Day

It was a fight for survival for the sailors who had to live on dwindling supplies of food and water. "Life in hell is over," said a relieved Ayyappan Swaminathan as he planted his feet firmly on land for the first time in 28 months. Till a few weeks ago, land was a distant dream...