The President of the UAE His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin
Zayed Al Nahyan has issued Federal Decree No 9 for 2016 that concerns
bankruptcy.
It was approved by the Cabinet
last month and will come into effect three months after being published in the
official gazette.
The law contains elements of bankruptcy protection laws from
jurisdictions including France, Germany and the Netherlands, and provides, for
the first time, a comprehensive legal framework to help distressed companies in
the UAE avoid bankruptcy and liquidation. The law contains provisions to
safeguard the rights of creditors and debtors, including measures that
prioritise secured creditor rights and enable companies to restructure without
unanimous creditor approval. The law applies to companies established under the
commercial companies law, companies that are partly or fully owned by the
federal or the local government, and companies and institutions established in
free zones that are not governed by existing bankruptcy provisions.