The UAE runs three separate board regimes, and experience of one does not qualify you for another
Onshore public joint stock companies sit under the SCA governance guide; the DIFC and ADGM are common-law jurisdictions with their own companies laws, courts and financial regulators.
2 January 2022
An onshore public joint stock company is governed by Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2021 and, if listed, by the SCA's corporate governance guide: a board of three to eleven, a majority non-executive, at least one-third independent, a non-executive chairman, and female representation on the board.
The Dubai International Financial Centre and Abu Dhabi Global Market are separate jurisdictions with their own companies laws, their own courts, and their own financial regulators — the DFSA and the FSRA. A director of a regulated firm in either must be approved for the relevant controlled function.
Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2021 removed the general requirement for majority Emirati ownership in most sectors, which materially widened who may control and sit on a UAE board. Some strategic sectors retain conditions.
What it means for a cross-border candidate
Treat 'UAE board experience' as three different credentials on a CV, and say which one you hold. A candidate who has chaired the audit committee of a DIFC-regulated firm has not, on that basis, governed an onshore PJSC — and a nomination committee on the other side of that line will know it within a question.
This paragraph is the Global ID Exchange’s own reading, not a statement by any authority named above. Everything in the body of this item is a matter of record; this is judgement.
Sources
- Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2021 on Commercial Companies
- SCA Corporate Governance Guide for Public Joint Stock Companies
- DIFC Companies Law; ADGM Companies Regulations
Rules change and transitional provisions frequently apply. Verify against the primary instrument before you rely on any provision described here.
Read next: the UAE regime in full.
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