DIFC DNFBP Registration with the DFSA

The Dubai Financial Services Authority states that the Regulatory Law requires a Designated Non-Financial Business or Profession to be registered by the DFSA to conduct its activities in the Dubai International Financial Centre.

Registration is a standing status rather than a one-off window. The DFSA publishes no closing date for it, so the question is whether the practice is a Designated Non-Financial Business or Profession today.

AML Rule 3.2.1 lists the businesses and professions which, if carried on in or from the DIFC, constitute a Designated Non-Financial Business or Profession. The limbs that reach the professions on Expat183 are:

• a law firm, notary firm or other independent legal business
• an accounting firm, audit firm or insolvency firm

The chapter 15 guidance reads the definition on substance over form, and states that a tax advisory business carried on in or from the DIFC is a Designated Non-Financial Business or Profession.

AML Rule 3.2.1(2) states that the following are not a Designated Non-Financial Business or Profession:

• a person who is an Authorised Person, who AML Rule 3.2.1(2) states is not a DNFBP
• a person who is a Registered Auditor, who AML Rule 3.2.1(2) states is not a DNFBP

The DFSA regulates the Dubai International Financial Centre. This requirement is shown only to professionals who have told us they practise in the DIFC, and we never assert it for practice elsewhere in the United Arab Emirates.

Onshore UAE practice, and practice in the other free zones, sit under different supervisors that we have not researched. No requirement showing on your page for those means we hold nothing about them, not that nothing applies.

The DFSA publishes the registration route, the forms and the supervisory expectations for Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions in its own rulebook and on its website. Registration is with the DFSA directly.

This requirement appears in the regulatory requirements section of your professional dashboard. If one of the DFSA's published exclusions applies to your practice, you can record the requirement as not applicable and cite the exclusion you are relying on.

We record the exclusion you cite. We do not check it against the DFSA, and recording it here is not confirmation from the DFSA that it covers you. Your declaration is a statement about your circumstances now, so we ask you to confirm it again each year.

Expat183 is a technology marketplace that connects users with legal, financial, and tax professionals. We do not provide legal, tax, or regulatory advice.

We report published regulatory requirements as a courtesy to help professionals stay informed. This is not advice, and professionals should always verify their position directly with the DFSA.

• DFSA Rulebook: AML Rule 3.2.1 (opens in a new tab)
• DFSA Rulebook: AML chapter 15 guidance (opens in a new tab)