Article (3): Application for Licence

N 1/2014 Effective from 3/1/2014

Any natural or juridical person may submit an application for a licence to the Central Bank to carry out exchange business. Such application shall be made on the form prescribed from time to time by the Central Bank and attached to it the following documents:

A statement setting out the nature and scale of the exchange business which the applicant intends to carry on, plans of the applicant for the future development of that business and the particulars of the applicant's arrangements for the management of that business.
Name of applicant and his address, a brief statement about his qualifications and experience, copies of UAE ID of the partners, or copies of passports of foreign partners, and a copy of the UAE family book, with the originals of such documents for inspection.
1. An undertaking to provide, in case the application is approved, and prior to issuing a license, an unconditional and irrevocable bank guarantee drawn in favour of the Central Bank, issued by a Bank licensed by the Central Bank or an unconditional and irrevocable deposit of unencumbered cash funds held in an account at the Central Bank in lieu thereof. The value at any point of time of either of the above, shall not be less than the higher of either:
a) one hundred (100) percent of the minimum Paid Up Capital required as specified in Article (4.2)(a) of these Regulations; or
b) five (5) percent of the full amount equal to the average monthly remittance value of the previous financial year.
2. In the case of carrying on payment of wages activity, the value of payments using WPS shall be restricted to the bank guarantee drawn in favour of the Central Bank according to the Standards for the Regulations Regarding Licensing and Monitoring of Exchange Business.
An undertaking to comply with:
1. The provisions of Union Law No.10 of 1980, Regulation No. 24/2000 regarding Procedures for Anti-Money Laundering Combating of Terrorist Financing and any other resolutions or instructions issued by the Central Bank.
2. To render his documents and records accessible to the Central Bank’s supervisors and examiners.
Any other information or documents required by the Central Bank for the purpose of processing the licence application.

_{This article has been amended by the central Bank Board of Directors Resolution No 61/6/2016, and Circular No 19/2021 respectively. You are viewing the latest version. To view previous versions, click the version boxes below}.

Version 2 _{(effective from 25/08/2016 to 05/12/2021)}

Any natural or juridical person may submit an application for a licence to the Central Bank to carry out exchange business. Such application shall be made on the form prescribed from time to time by the Central Bank and attached to it the following documents:

A statement setting out the nature and scale of the exchange business which the applicant intends to carry on, plans of the applicant for the future development of that business and the particulars of the applicant's arrangements for the management of that business.
Name of applicant and his address, a brief statement about his qualifications and experience, copies of UAE ID of the partners, or copies of passports of foreign partners, and a copy of the UAE family book, with the originals of such documents for inspection.
1. An undertaking to provide, in case the application is approved, a bank guarantee drawn in favor of the Central Bank issued by a bank licensed in the UAE, provided that the guarantee value at any point of time shall not be less than the higher of the following:
1. 100% of the minimum paid-up capital required as specified in Paragraph (a) of Article (4.2) of these Regulations, or
2. 5% of the monthly remittance average value of the previous financial year, with a maximum of AED 75,000,000 (Seventy Five Million).
2. In the case of carrying on payment of wages activity, the value of payments using WPS shall be restricted to the bank guarantee drawn in favor of the Central Bank according to the Standards issued as indicated in Article (11) bis of these Regulations.
An undertaking to comply with:
1. The provisions of Union Law No.10 of 1980, Regulation No. 24/2000 regarding Procedures for Anti-Money Laundering Combating of Terrorist Financing and any other resolutions or instructions issued by the Central Bank.
2. To render his documents and records accessible to the Central Bank’s supervisors and examiners.
Any other information or documents required by the Central Bank for the purpose of processing the licence application.

Version 1 _{(effective from 03/01/2014 to 25/08/2016)}

Any natural or juridical person may submit an application for a licence to the Central Bank to carry out exchange business. Such application shall be made on the form prescribed from time to time by the Central Bank and attached to it the following documents:

A statement setting out the nature and scale of the exchange business which the applicant intends to carry on, plans of the applicant for the future development of that business and the particulars of the applicant's arrangements for the management of that business.
Name of applicant and his address, a brief statement about his qualifications and experience, copies of UAE ID of the partners, or copies of passports of foreign partners, and a copy of the UAE family book, with the originals of such documents for inspection.
An undertaking to provide, in case the application is approved, a bank guarantee drawn in favour of the Central Bank issued by a bank licensed in the UAE of value equal to 100% of the paid up capital.
An undertaking to comply with:
1. The provisions of Union Law No.10 of 1980, Regulation No. 24/2000 regarding Procedures for Anti-Money Laundering Combating of Terrorist Financing and any other resolutions or instructions issued by the Central Bank.
2. To render his documents and records accessible to the Central Bank’s supervisors and examiners.
Any other information or documents required by the Central Bank for the purpose of processing the licence application.