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🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates (Dubai - VARA) analogue

Dubai VARA, VASP licence, per activity

Crypto (CASP / VASP) E-money (EMI)
Last verified 2026-07-15 Next review 2026-07-29

Data verified: oldest cell 46 days ago (verified 2026-07-02). Individual cells show their own verification date below.

Capital requirement Capital requirement is included with access. Included with access Timeline to authorisation Timeline to authorisation is included with access. Included with access Application cost Application cost is included with access. Included with access Passporting Passporting is included with access. Included with access

Licence type

No EMI. Stored Value Facility (SVF) licence and Retail Payment Services under the Retail Payment Services and Card Schemes Regulation, federal.

Verified 6 weeks agoSource: CBUAE, https://rulebook.centralbank.ae/en/rulebook/retail-payment-services-and-card-schemes-regulation

Regulator

Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE). Separate from Dubai VARA, which regulates crypto.

Verified 6 weeks agoSource: CBUAE

Recent changes

Transition deadline 16 September 2026 applies to in-scope entities. This traces to Article 184 of Federal Decree-Law No. 6 of 2025 (Article text pending direct confirmation from the CBUAE rulebook) (the new consolidated Central Bank Law, which significantly expanded CBUAE's remit to cover payment services using virtual assets and technology providers facilitating financial services): the law was published in the Official Gazette on 15 September 2025 and took effect the following day, and Article 184 gives all persons newly brought into scope a one-year reconciliation period from that effective date, extendable at the Central Bank's discretion. This is separate from the older, narrower Payment Token Services Regulation (Circular 2/2024, effective 31 August 2024), whose own Article 40 sets a one-year transition period from that regulation's commencement (around 31 August 2025) for firms already providing payment token services when that narrower regulation first took effect; the two transition periods should not be conflated.

Verified 5 weeks agoSource: CBUAE Rulebook, Article (40): Transition Period, Payment Token Services Regulation (primary, confirms the narrower/earlier transition and rules it out as the source of the 16 Sep 2026 date): https://rulebook.centralbank.ae/en/rulebook/article-40-transition-period ; independent secondary confirmations of Article 184 / Federal Decree-Law 6 of 2025, one appearing to quote CBUAE's own legislation explainer: https://www.glaco.com/blog/new-cbuae-law-no-6-of-2025-a-consolidated-overhaul-of-the-uae-financial-regulatory/ and https://chambers.com/articles/new-cbuae-law-no-6-of-2025-a-consolidated-overhaul-of-the-uae-financial-regulatory-framework ; original stored source retained: https://cms.law/en/are/legal-updates/the-new-cbuae-payment-token-services-regulation-10-things-you-need-to-know2

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Not legal advice. Entries marked placeholder or awaiting verification shouldn't be relied on. Verify with United Arab Emirates (Dubai - VARA)'s regulator and qualified local counsel before acting.