UAE Economic Substance Regulation Update: JAFZA and Ministry of Economy (MoE) issue guidelines and announce deadline for submission of ESR Notification Form by Licensees
JAFZA and the MoE have issued guidelines and announced the deadline for Licensees to comply with their Economic Substance Regulation (“ESR”) filing obligations. JAFZA and DED Licensees undertaking a Relevant Activity are expected to comply with their ESR filing obligation and notify their respective Authorities by 30th June 2020.
ESR took effect on 30 April 2019. There are a number of actions which relevant Licensees must be undertaking to ensure compliance – from clarifying their entity classification, to the structuring of contractual and delegation arrangements, the review and organization of their internal governance, their employment and premises arrangements and the capturing of relevant business information which will be required for the preparation and filing of reporting information to the Regulatory Authority.
The ESR Notification is the first step for Licensees to comply with ESR obligations, and serves as the self-declaration of whether Relevant Activities are performed in the UAE. Failure to complete and submit the Notification may result in penalties.
Below is the updated ESR tracker with the information obtained from each Authority.