New UAE companies law expected to lift the foreign ownership ceiling from the current 49 per cent

Abu Dhabi: A new UAE companies law that is expected to lift the foreign ownership ceiling from the current 49 per cent in certain businesses could be introduced this year, Minister of Economy Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri said.

"It could be any time this year. At the ministry level, our work is done," Al Mansouri told reporters yesterday on the sidelines of the 5th Annual GCC Regulators Summit. Al Mansouri said the ministry has finalised the draft and is waiting for approval from the UAE authorities concerned.

Experts say the introduction of the new companies law will help attract more foreign investments and give a boost to the local economy and employment.

The UAE Companies Law allows foreigners a maximum stake of 49 per cent in companies outside free zones.

However, foreigners are allowed 100 per cent in companies registered within the free zones. The new law will also make it mandatory for companies to create a general corporate governance framework.

The legislation is part of a move to modernise the UAE's company, foreign investment and industrial laws to boost transparency and investor confidence.

Separately, Al Mansouri in his speech at the regulators summit said that after the financial crisis regulators are assuming increasing roles to strengthen the financial sector.

"The regulatory role is under reform in many countries to touch all bases including systemic stability, micro prudential regulations, conduct of business and consumer protection," he said.

Preparedness

"Regulators need to be proactive by being prepared for adverse outcomes, and need to be reactive to the needs of the industry. The world is still learning from past experiences and evidence shows that the regulatory process is an evolving one," he added.

He said the GCC countries have distinctive regulatory needs since the financial sector in the GCC is developing at an unprecedented pace.

"Regulators need to tackle issues like introducing new instruments besides the pure longing of stocks of listed companies, improve mechanisms like delivery versus payment (DVP), auxiliary tools like security lending and borrowing, licensing new financial services like investment management and regulate existing practices like rating agencies, auditing firms and research and financial analysis services," he said.

New company law by end of 2011, says Al Mansouri UAE Minister of Economy

Abu Dhabi: A new company law is awaiting government approval, a top official said on Wednesday.

A draft Companies Law is with the government for consideration, Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, UAE Minister of Economy, told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Abu Dhabi.

He said, it will go through a process of scrutiny and verification and ammendments till it is passed by the government.

“It could be issued before the end of this year,” he said.

UAE’s Commercial Companies Law allows foreigners a maximum of 49 per cent stake in companies outside free zones. However foreigners are allowed 100 per cent stake in companies registered within the free zones.

The move will help the UAE to attract more foreign investment that could boost local employment and help the economy grow, analyst say.

Per second billing approved for etisalat mobile subscribers

Etisalat, du working on common landline services and ending location monopoly: TRA chief

Etisalat will start charging mobile phone subscribers per second for calls, reported Arabic newspapers. Mohamed Nasser Al Ghanim, Director-General, Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), said etisalat has been given the approval to charge subscribers per second for the calls they make. This is to ensure healthy competition in UAE telecommunications market.

The TRA's role ends with giving approval for services, the price packages. The time of implementaion is up to the operator to decide, he added. Franchise rights are imposed by the Ministry of Finance and TRA does not have a say in that, Ghanim said.

According to latest estimates, etisalat has about 47,000 'distinguished subscriber's whom it charges per second for mobile phone calls.

Meanwhile, TRA will meet with representatives of etisalat and du separately to discuss strategic plans for the next three years, Ghanim said and added that both the telecom operators are curently working on offering common landline telephone and internet services. They are working towards opening terrestrial networks by the year-end and ending geographic monopoly, he said.“The two companies recently have begun testing systems, communications networks before starting to extend the area of operation to include all areas of the UAE,” said Ghanim.

"The TRA oversees direct negotiations between the two companies," he added.

In UAE six-month employment ban is still very much in force

Ministry says new law only makes job shift more flexible as it turns down several requests.New rules enforced by the UAE at the start of 2011 allowing workers to shift to another job still include a six-month ban on those who do not fully abide by the specified terms, the ministry of labour has said.

In a statement carried by the Arabic language daily Alkhaleej on Sunday, the ministry said it turned down applications in January by many workers who had left their employers and wanted to move to another sponsor because they failed to justify their move.

“Those workers mentioned some mistakes committed by their employers but they did not comply with the new cabinet decision nor did they know the measures that govern such a decision or the terms needed to be met in order to get consent by the ministry for their shifting to another employer,” it said.

The statement said the ministry found that those workers had quit their jobs without any real reason, trying to benefit from the new job transfer measures without clearly understanding them.

“This prompted the ministry to impose a six-month ban on them because an exemption of this ban will be granted only under the new regulations…the six-month ban is still in force but the new decision was introduced only to add some flexibility to job transfer under certain conditions and rules which should be enforced by the ministry of laour without any exception,” it said.

“Such condition must mainly include that the work contract between the employee and the employer should be terminated with the consent of both parties and the worker has competed at least two years in the job with that employer.”

But the ministry said such a condition could be excluded in case the employer breaks terms of the contract or fails to pay workers their wages for at least 60 days. Workers can also apply for transfer in case their establishment has shut down.

“Another case involves a court suit against the employer by the employee provided the court issues a sentence in favour of the employee…in any case, the worker should not quit the job without any reason or justification as this will result in a six-month ban.”

60-day work permits for first-time workers in UAE

Ministry of Labour has announced that new workers can now come to the UAE on work permits valid for 60 days, provided they are above 18 years of age and posses a passport valid for more than six months. Most importantly, the rule is applicable only to those who have never worked in the UAE before.Such work permits can be extended six times provided the fee and bank guarantee are paid before each expiry date. Expired work permits will incur a fine of Dh500 for every 10 days from the date of original expiry or the extended expiry date.

And in case of non-payment of fees and bank guarantee within 60 days, the permit will be automatically cancelled.UAE citizens and GCC nationals cannot apply under this permit.

Similarly, companies bringing such workers must possess a valid licence and the person in charge must possess the authority to have an electronic signature.Tasheel centres are authorised to issue such work permits