Reviewed by the editorial team of Symbol Consulting DMCC
The Capital Market Authority (CMA) became the legal successor of the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) on 1 January 2026, and a separate clock runs beside that succession: Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2025 gives every covered entity and person one year, to 1 January 2027, to regularise status, which the Board may extend at its discretion (per Arts 83 and 85, as of 7 October 2026).
How the 2025 repeal made the Capital Market Authority the SCA’s successor
Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2025 repealed Federal Law No. 4 of 2000, which had created the SCA, and provides that the CMA replaces the SCA “in all its rights, obligations, and contracts” and is its legal successor. Every reference to the SCA in any legislation is read as a reference to the CMA (per Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2025, Arts 2(2), 2(3) and 29(1), as of 7 October 2026).
The portal lists the decree-law as issued on 1 October 2025 and published in the Official Gazette on 14 October 2025; Article 30 sets its entry into force at 1 January 2026 (per Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2025, Art. 30, as of 7 October 2026). Article 27 keeps three groups of instruments alive. Federal Law by Decree No. 22 of 2020 and its implementing resolutions remain in full force; Cabinet Resolution No. 111 of 2022 on virtual assets and Cabinet Resolution No. 112 of 2022 continue to apply to the extent they are not inconsistent with the new laws, until repealed, amended or superseded; and Cabinet and Authority resolutions issued before 1 January 2026 stay applicable until the necessary implementing resolutions are issued (per Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2025, Art. 27(2)–(4), as of 7 October 2026). The repeal removed the 2000 statute, not every SCA-era text.
Article 2(2) transfers the SCA’s rights, obligations and contracts to the CMA, and the text names no re-application on the changeover date. Symbol Consulting reads that as continuity of existing licences, approvals and registrations in the hands of their holders; the article does not itself use the word licence, so the status of any single approval is a point to confirm against the Authority’s own record (per Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2025, Art. 2(2), as of 7 October 2026).
Which activities need Capital Market Authority authorisation, and in what order
Article 3(1) of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2025 lists 27 items as Financial Activities subject to the Authority’s regulation, licensing and supervision; the last covers any other activity the Board designates by resolution. Article 3(2) prohibits engaging in any of them within the State without a licence or approval from the Authority (per Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2025, Art. 3(1)–(2), as of 7 October 2026).
The items most likely to apply to a smaller advisory or fund business sit among market infrastructure and the regulated professions:
- Establishment and operation of the Market, trading platforms and Central Clearing, and Central Depository services
- Brokerage, portfolio management and financial advisory
- Activities and services related to the establishment and management of Investment Funds
- Underwriting, custody services and issuance management
- Activities and services related to Virtual Assets
- Activities and services related to investment-based crowdfunding
Article 6(1) fixes the order of approvals. No legal Person is registered or licensed with the Relevant Authorities, a term that covers the Ministry of Economy and Tourism, the Central Bank and the local licensing authorities, for a Financial Activity except after the Authority has approved that activity (per Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2025, Art. 1 and Art. 6(1), as of 7 October 2026). Symbol Consulting reads this as placing the Authority’s approval first in the sequence for an onshore investment, brokerage or fund-management business: it precedes the trade licence rather than being added to it afterwards.
Individuals have their own gate. The Authority determines the approved functions required for any task connected with Financial Activities, and no natural Person may perform one without the Authority’s approval or accreditation, so the approval attaches to the person, not only to the firm (per Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2025, Art. 4(1)–(2), as of 7 October 2026).
Where the Authority’s jurisdiction stops
Article 2(4) of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2025 excludes four things: Financial Activities licensed by the Central Bank; the Central Depository, and clearing and settlement systems established or operated by the Central Bank; Persons licensed by the Central Bank, except to the extent of issuing Securities or engaging in the Article 3 Financial Activities; and the Financial Free Zones (per Art. 2(4), as of 7 October 2026).
Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2025 repeats the free-zone limit for the institution: the Authority exercises its competencies “within the State, excluding the Financial Free Zones”, which the law defines as the zones subject to Federal Law No. 8 of 2004 (per Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2025, Arts 1 and 5(3), as of 7 October 2026). Article 2(1) of the 2025 market law extends in two places: it applies to Financial Activities carried out by any Person in a Free Zone other than a Financial Free Zone, and to any Person who targets clients within the State through its activity, even from outside the State or from a Financial Free Zone (per Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2025, Art. 2(1)(b) and (d), as of 7 October 2026).
| Activity or entity | Position under the 2025 laws | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Article 3 Financial Activity carried out within the State, or by any Person in a Free Zone that is not a Financial Free Zone | Regulated, licensed and supervised by the Authority | FDL 33/2025, Arts 2(1)(b) and 3 |
| Financial Activities licensed by the Central Bank | Outside the law | FDL 33/2025, Art. 2(4)(a) |
| Central Depository, and clearing and settlement systems established or operated by the Central Bank | Outside the law, although Article 3(1)(d) also lists Central Depository services as a Financial Activity | FDL 33/2025, Arts 2(4)(b) and 3(1)(d) |
| Persons licensed by the Central Bank | Outside the law, except to the extent of issuing Securities or engaging in Article 3 activities | FDL 33/2025, Art. 2(4)(c) |
| Financial Free Zones | Outside the law and outside the Authority’s competencies | FDL 33/2025, Art. 2(4)(d); FDL 32/2025, Art. 5(3) |
| Any Person targeting clients within the State, including from a Financial Free Zone | Within the law, provided the activity is subject to it | FDL 33/2025, Art. 2(1)(d) |
| Operational and executive powers of a licensed market | The licensed market itself | Federal Law by Decree 22/2020, Art. 1 |
| Regulation, monitoring and supervision of securities and commodities | The SCA, now the Authority | Federal Law by Decree 22/2020, Art. 2; FDL 32/2025, Art. 2(2) |
Symbol Consulting reads paragraphs (a) and (c) of Article 2(4) together as follows: an Article 3 activity that the Central Bank itself licenses stays outside the law, while a Person licensed by the Central Bank that carries on an Article 3 activity the Central Bank does not license falls under the Authority to that extent. The text does not spell out the link between those two paragraphs, nor between the Central Depository exclusion in paragraph (b) and its listing in Article 3(1)(d), so each is a point to confirm with the Authority (per Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2025, Arts 2(4) and 3(1)(d), as of 7 October 2026). The Authority’s Resolution No. (16/Chairman) of 2026, issued on 25 June 2026, lets entities licensed by the Central Bank, except insurance companies, practise the activities regulated by its Resolution No. (04/Chairman) of 2026 on virtual assets service providers and the alternative trading system operator (as of 7 October 2026).
The 2020 split between the Authority and the licensed markets
Federal Law by Decree No. 22 of 2020 gives the licensed securities and commodities markets, each within its competence, sole responsibility for the operational and executive powers established for the SCA, and keeps with the SCA the authority to regulate, monitor and supervise securities and commodities in the State (per Federal Law by Decree No. 22 of 2020, Arts 1 and 2, as of 7 October 2026).
Article 27(2) of Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2025 leaves that law in full force, and the 2025 institutional law adds a delegation route. The Board determines and recognises Self-Regulatory Organizations, which Article 1 defines as Capital Market Institutions or other institutions holding operational and executive powers over trading, business conduct and membership under the Authority’s supervision, and may, subject to Article 27(2) and with their consent, delegate certain operational or executive powers of the Authority to Capital Market Institutions or such organisations, whose controls the Authority approves (per Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2025, Art. 1, Art. 8(7) and Art. 14(2), as of 7 October 2026). The 2020 text still names the SCA in its own wording, and Article 2(3) of the 2025 law reads each such reference as the CMA.
The regularisation period runs separately from succession
Article 83 of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2025 requires all covered Entities and Persons to “regularize their statuses in compliance herewith within (1) one year from the date of entry into force”. Article 85 fixes entry into force at 1 January 2026, so the period ends on 1 January 2027 unless the Board extends it “at its discretion” (per Arts 83 and 85, as of 7 October 2026).
The two provisions govern different things and run on separate clocks. Article 2(2) of Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2025 moves the SCA’s rights, obligations and contracts to the CMA; Article 83 of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2025 sets the period in which every covered Entity and Person brings its status into line with the new law. Article 83 does not say what regularisation involves, and Article 82 keeps earlier Cabinet and Authority resolutions in force “until the necessary resolutions are issued to implement” the new laws (per Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2025, Arts 82 and 83, as of 7 October 2026).
Engaging in a Financial Activity without the licence, approval, registration or accreditation the law requires is an offence under Article 71(1), punishable by imprisonment of not less than one year and a fine of AED 50,000 to AED 250,000,000, or either of the two (per Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2025, Art. 71(1), as of 7 October 2026). Article 65 provides for a Board regulation on sanctions and administrative measures that may include a fine of up to AED 200,000,000 and, separately, a fine of up to ten times the profit gained or the loss avoided (per Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2025, Art. 65(1)(c)–(d), as of 7 October 2026).
Article 66(1)(a) lets the Authority suspend a Licensed Person for up to twelve months, or revoke its licence, approval or registration, where any condition required for licensing is lost. Neither 2025 law says whether a missed Article 83 period counts as such a loss; Symbol Consulting treats that as a point to put to the Authority rather than one the text settles (per Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2025, Art. 66(1)(a), as of 7 October 2026).
What the 1 January 2027 date settles and what it leaves to the Board
The date of 1 January 2027 follows from the text of Articles 83 and 85 of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2025, and the law attaches no criteria to the Board’s power to extend it. For an entity holding an SCA-era licence, approval or registration, 1 January 2027 is therefore the planning date unless the Board publishes an extension (per Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2025, Arts 83 and 85, as of 7 October 2026).
No extension appears in the texts of the two laws as published on the UAE Legislation portal, whose pages list a last update of 1 October 2025, or on the Authority’s pages of circulars, rules and procedures and latest regulations. The latter lists four decisions of 2026: two amending the Regulations Manual of the Financial Activities, one on Central Bank-licensed entities, and one on technical service fees; none addresses the Article 83 period (as of 7 October 2026).
The Al Tamimi & Co note of 28 January 2026 says the framework “is expected to be implemented progressively, with further clarity to emerge through executive regulations and regulatory practice”, and it does not mention the Article 83 period either.
Articles 27(4) and 82 keep the Authority’s earlier resolutions in force to the extent they are not inconsistent with the new laws, among them Chairman’s Decision No. (13/Chairman) of 2021 on the Regulations Manual of the Financial Activities and Status Regularization Mechanisms. The Authority amended the manual in 2026 by Decisions No. (11/Chairman) and (13/Chairman), approved by the Board on 9 April 2026. In 2021 the decision gave licensed bodies a period of not more than one year to meet the manual’s licensing requirements and provided sanctions for failing to meet it (Arts 2 and 5), but it sets no period under the 2025 laws.
What Article 83 regularisation requires is therefore not yet stated in a listed resolution. Whether an entity held an SCA-era authorisation on 1 January 2026 is a fact about its own record; Article 83 covers all Entities and Persons to whom the laws apply, and the texts do not say how it treats an entity that held none, which is a point to put to the Authority. The offence in Article 71(1) applies to any Financial Activity carried on without the required authorisation (per Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2025, Arts 71(1) and 83, as of 7 October 2026).
This material was reviewed by the editorial team of Symbol Consulting DMCC, an advisory firm that provides company setup and licensing, tax and regulatory compliance, and market entry consulting across multiple countries.
This material is a general analysis of published federal legislation. It does not constitute legal, regulatory or investment advice, and entities affected by Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2025 or Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2025 should seek their own counsel before acting on any deadline discussed here.