The UAE has issued by Decree Federal Law No. (10) of 2018 on Netting (theUAE Netting Law), with the aim of strengthening the regulatory framework for the settlement of obligations arising from qualified financial contracts. Parties to a contract previously relied on Article 183 of Federal Law No. (9) of 2016 on Bankruptcy (the Bankruptcy Law) to settle debts agreed to under a contract, provided that it is within the context of insolvency and that such contract does not fall within the claw-back provisions (Article 168 of the Bankruptcy Law).
The UAE government issued a new bankruptcy law, UAE Federal Decree Law No. 9 of 2016 (“Bankruptcy Law”) which came into force on 29 December 2016.
The introduction of the Bankruptcy Law is regarded as an important step towards bringing more clarity to the UAE’s insolvency regime. The Bankruptcy Law outlined a more modernized approach to company restructuring and insolvency management.
I. Key facts
What are the key facts on doing business in the UAE?
When considering doing business in a foreign jurisdiction, an investor must consider a wide range of commercial, political and capital security issues that will impact the final decision of investing in a particular country.
Over the last two decades the United Arab Emirates have proven itself to be a very attractive hub for investors to locate their business for many reasons, below are just a few of them:
In brief:
The proposed changes to the Saudi Arabian bankruptcy regime will provide the judiciary the right to obligate creditors to accept a settlement proposed by the debtor (the “new Law”).
The Ministry of Commerce and Investment is currently in the latter stages of reforming the Kingdom’s bankruptcy laws and regulations. The new Law is intended to replace certain sections in the Commercial Court Law and the Bankruptcy Protecting Settlement Law dealing with bankruptcy.
A declaration of bankruptcy, according to Article 645 of the Commercial Transactions Law, can be imposed on any trader who ceases to pay some or all of its commercial debts. While a debtor’s cessation of payment is a presumption against him, the trader might not be considered bankrupt if the failure to pay is due to a dispute regarding the debt. In other words, it is important to prove that the debtor ceased to pay a certain commercial debt due to financial distress and credit issues.
The long-awaited UAE Federal Bankruptcy Law (the New Law) is expected to take effect on 29 December 2016. The reforms aim to modernise the largely untested existing bankruptcy legislation in a manner suitable to the economic and business landscape of a fast-developing country like the UAE. The move is away from the stigma of bankruptcy and business failure to rescue and rehabilitation.
January 2017
Practice Group: Banking & Asset Finance
New UAE Insolvency Law
By Simon Mabin
Executive Summary
The new bankruptcy law was published in the Official Gazette dated 29 September 2016 following the issuance of Federal Decree Law No.9 of 2016 on Bankruptcy (the "Bankruptcy Law"). The Bankruptcy Law is expected to become effective in December 2016 / early 2017.
UAE Law No. 18 of 1993 ‘Concerning Commercial Transactions’ (the “Commercial Transactions Law”) provides a framework for the bankruptcy of persons engaged in trade.
Part Five of the Commercial Transactions Law sets out provisions dealing with the bankruptcy procedure for traders who cease to pay their debts. This article will take a look at the bankruptcy provisions of the Commercial Transactions Law.
Definition of Bankruptcy
Section 1 of Article 645 of the Commercial Transactions Law provides:
In these challenging economic times, some businesses are struggling to cope with financial pressures and financiers are concerned with their customers’ ability to service their financing arrangements. An effective insolvency regime is, therefore, an important element of financial system stability. The statutory insolvency regime in the United Arab Emirates (“UAE”) has often been regarded as under-developed and remains largely untested.