10 Leaves

This episode is part of the 10 Academy training series. Here is a bit about how we at 10 Leaves can help you. We provide turnkey services for getting authorised, and staying authorised. Our GRC team is at hand to help you with ongoing compliances, prudential reporting and risk management. We also assist you with maintaining good corporate governance in the Firm, one aspect that is much overlooked by most firms that we have consulted. In addition to this, we help with accounting and bookkeeping activities and filing of VAT returns on a regular basis. The newly-issued Tax Laws may also be relevant to the Firm and we will assist you in registering with the authorities and creating tax efficiencies for the business. Well, that’s it for today. Thank you for listening, and do get in touch with us by writing in to us at [email protected]. Do also visit our website at www.10leaves.ae. Do contact us for further details!

Wikipedia defines a holding company as “a company that owns other companies' outstanding stock.” In short, a holding company consolidates investments, be it shares in other companies or property, under a common umbrella, for ease of management and reporting. Such companies do not usually carry out a trade or service – they merely manage existing investments. The management team of the holding company also seeks to make new investments, based on certain pre-determined criteria, to expand their existing portfolios. The ADGM offers both passive and operational holding companies. ADGM SPVs can only act as passive holding companies, and so cannot avail visas or functional office space in the centre. The advantage is that where there is no operational requirement, an ADGM SPV can act as a holding structure for a relatively low cost, and offer flexibility at the same time. What assets can an ADGM SPV hold? The SPV in the ADGM can hold any types of securities, including bonds, listed or unlisted shares in downstream entities, stocks, real estate worldwide, cash and commodities, loans, and intangible assets such as Intellectual Property and Patents.

This episode is part of the 10 Academy training series. Here is a bit about how we at 10 Leaves can help you. We provide turnkey services for getting authorised, and staying authorised. Our GRC team is at hand to help you with ongoing compliances, prudential reporting and risk management. We also assist you with maintaining good corporate governance in the Firm, one aspect that is much overlooked by most firms that we have consulted. In addition to this, we help with accounting and bookkeeping activities and filing of VAT returns on a regular basis. The newly-issued Tax Laws may also be relevant to the Firm and we will assist you in registering with the authorities and creating tax efficiencies for the business. Well, that’s it for today. Thank you for listening, and do get in touch with us by writing in to us at [email protected]. Do also visit our website at www.10leaves.ae. Do contact us for further details!

This episode is part of the 10 Academy training series.  Here is a bit about how we at 10 Leaves can help you. We provide turnkey services for getting authorised, and staying authorised. Our GRC team is at hand to help you with ongoing compliances, prudential reporting and risk management. We also assist you with maintaining good corporate governance in the Firm, one aspect that is much overlooked by most firms that we have consulted. In addition to this, we help with accounting and bookkeeping activities and filing of VAT returns on a regular basis. The newly-issued Tax Laws may also be relevant to the Firm and we will assist you in registering with the authorities and creating tax efficiencies for the business. Well, that’s it for today. Thank you for listening, and do get in touch with us by writing in to us at [email protected]. Do also visit our website at www.10leaves.ae. Do contact us for further details!

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://10leaves.wordpress.com/2022/07/10/emi-licenses-in-the-difc/ Firms interested in carrying out Money Service activities from the DIFC are required to submit applications to the Dubai Financial Services Authority, or DFSA. The DFSA, for the purposes of authorisation and supervision, categorises money services business activities based on the type of money services being carried out, and the minimum base capital required. The DFSA categorises the range of activities that comprise the Money Services Business into two groups: 1) Arranging and Advising on Money Services and 2) Providing Money Services. Providing Money Services (includes issuing payment instruments, providing money transmission, issuing stored value and providing or operating a payment account).

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://10leaves.ae/publications/difc/credit-funds-in-the-difc What is a credit fund? Credit funds are collective investment funds that use fund property (i.e., investors’ money) either to originate, or to purchase, loans, or both. The limited options for borrowing from banks in certain markets have led to the increase in the opportunity for fund managers to provide private credit, through specialize credit funds. Fund managers have been able to obtain access to reliable deal flow directly from targeted market segments, making use of underlying collateral, as well as gaining access to lending transactions with banks and purchasing loan portfolios from banks and other loan originators. What does DFSA consider a Credit Fund? Credit Funds are a specialist class of funds in the DIFC, in which investor’s money can be used for the direct purchase of loans or purchase of loan portfolios. To be a Credit Fund, at least 90% of the Fund Property should be used for either loan origination or loan portfolio acquisition. These funds can be Exempt Funds or Qualified Investor Funds, but not Retail Funds. They can be set up as Investment Companies or Limited Partnerships. The Investment Trust structure is not permissible for Credit Funds in the DIFC. Also, such funds would have to be closed-ended, with a maximum tenure of 10 years, and cannot have leverage of more than 10% of the Fund’s Net Asset Value.

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://10leaves.ae/publications/blockchain-crypto/registering-and-licensing-defi-and-dapps-in-the-difc How to register a DeFi or DApp project in the DIFC The Middle East has seen a flurry of tech-related activity in the recent years. Tech companies are characterized by rapid ideation followed by implementation at an equally rapid pace. Another commonality is that most tech companies start small, and then ramp up quickly upon securing funding. However, managing costs at the onset is critical, especially in the first year, so as to ensure that the tech startup does not fold before it manages to attract its first round of seed/angel investments. A fledgling tech ecosystem needs good support from all quarters, and here is where the Dubai International Financial Centre has come to play an important part. Recognising the difficulties faced by early-stage technology companies, the DIFC made a lot of changes to create and accommodate a startup ecosystem in its award-winning onshore financial centre. What is the DIFC? The Dubai International Financial Centre, or DIFC, is a leading financial hub in the region for business, fintech, and lifestyle. Setup in 2004, the DIFC has grown to be one of the top 10 onshore financial centres in the world. It brought in a paradigm change in the region, by adopting a Common Law framework, with an independent regulator (DFSA) and an independent English language Common Law judiciary – DIFC Courts. Since then, the DIFC District has matured into more than just a place to work – it is now a lifestyle destination, with retail outlets, cafes and restaurants, art galleries, residential apartments, public green areas and hotels dotting the landscape.

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://10leaves.ae/publications/blockchain-crypto/setting-up-alternate-trading-system-ats-in-the-difc What is an Alternative Trading System? An ATS is a platform that is more loosely regulated than an exchange. It is used to match large orders mainly from institutional clients, and hence work as broker-dealers rather than exchange houses. They are also referred to as Multilateral Trading Facilities in Europe. The DFSA recognizes two types of ATS platforms – Multilateral Trading Facilities that operate on non-discretionary rules, and Organised Trading Facilities that operate on discretionary rules. MTF operators allow for trading of a wide variety of equity and non-equity securities, including shares, warrants, options, derivatives, futures, CFDs, fund units and crypto assets. Contracts between buyers and sellers are formed according to a set of transparent rules that do not discriminate between members or their clients (non-discretionary basis). Can an ATS operator conduct a Security Token Offering (STO)? Security Tokens can be listed and traded on DFSA-regulated exchanges or Alternate Trading Systems, with both facilities being able to host initial token offerings and secondary trading. The current admission criteria will also be applied to such Security Tokens, in a way that tokens trading elsewhere will also be tradable in such facilities. In cases where the ATS is exclusively dedicated to trading only in Security Tokens, it would be labeled a Security Token Market (or Derivative Token Market).

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://10leaves.ae/publications/blockchain-crypto/difc-digital-assets-regime The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) recently issued a consultation paper on the regulation of Security Tokens in the DIFC. This paper is one of the two consultation papers that will go on to make the base for the DIFC Digital Assets Regime, thus opening the gateway to a whole new world of exciting and cutting-edge fintech applications using the Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). The DFSA then made the relevant amendments to it’s legislation in the end of September, thus creating the framework for the regulation of Security Tokens in the centre. Part 1 of the DIFC Digital Assets Regime covers Security Tokens. Part 2 is expected to cover Utility Tokens, Exchange Tokens and Stablecoins. The DIFC Digital Assets Regime will be of interest to issuers of Security Tokens, Authorised Market Institutions that wish to admit Security Tokens to trading, or performing clearing and settlement services, operators of Alternate Trading Systems such as Multilateral Trading Facilities (MTF) and Organised Trading Facilities (OTF) that wish to trade Security Tokens, providers of Digital Wallets who provide custody and storage services for such tokens, technology providers and in general, any licensed firm that wishes to advise, arrange or manage crypto-assets.

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://10leaves.ae/publications/blockchain-crypto/difc-digital-assets-regime The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) recently issued a consultation paper on the regulation of Security Tokens in the DIFC. This paper is one of the two consultation papers that will go on to make the base for the DIFC Digital Assets Regime, thus opening the gateway to a whole new world of exciting and cutting-edge fintech applications using the Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). The DFSA then made the relevant amendments to it’s legislation in the end of September, thus creating the framework for the regulation of Security Tokens in the centre. Part 1 of the DIFC Digital Assets Regime covers Security Tokens. Part 2 is expected to cover Utility Tokens, Exchange Tokens and Stablecoins. The DIFC Digital Assets Regime will be of interest to issuers of Security Tokens, Authorised Market Institutions that wish to admit Security Tokens to trading, or performing clearing and settlement services, operators of Alternate Trading Systems such as Multilateral Trading Facilities (MTF) and Organised Trading Facilities (OTF) that wish to trade Security Tokens, providers of Digital Wallets who provide custody and storage services for such tokens, technology providers and in general, any licensed firm that wishes to advise, arrange or manage crypto-assets.