Financial Consultancy business setup in the UAE

Understanding financial consultancy

Financial consultancy must be assessed by its actual deliverables, not its commercial label. A proposal may discuss cash-flow forecasts, working capital, treasury processes or financing options, but those headings alone do not prove an unregulated perimeter. The current Capital Market Authority, formerly the Securities and Commodities Authority, regulates financial advisory services concerning financial products under Federal Decree-Law 33 of 2025. The official licensing manual also places financial consulting within arranging and advice. Investment recommendations, financial-product research, promotion and deal arrangement must not be assumed permissible under a generic management consultancy licence. No express exemption for the zone publication’s practical-finance scope was verified. This guide remains held without changing the proposed service to manufacture approval. The current definition expressly includes financial-statement analysis and investment-linked planning as well as recommendations, so a forecast or research label is not a safe exemption. Article 6 requires CMA approval before the relevant authorities register or license a legal person intending financial activities.

Evidence scope: the federal CMA capital-market framework, with financial-free-zone and specified CBUAE matters distinguished under Article 2. The legacy zone claim of no SCA approval is not relied upon. No exemption for the proposed practical-finance service was verified; this guide remains noindex. TPA is an independent consultancy, not the regulator.

Corporate finance advice

Advising companies on budgeting, funding readiness or financial processes is a consultancy model. Keep it clearly separate from arranging deals, managing money or selling investment products.

Personal financial planning

Advising individuals on investments, insurance or securities can fall within regulated financial-services perimeters. Identify the exact deliverables before choosing an activity label.

Independent analysis and research

Describe the financial products, output and audience precisely. Non-personalised research must not be assumed outside regulation merely because it is published rather than delivered privately.

What you offer matters.

What this activity covers

Financial consultancy proposals, including forecasting, working-capital, treasury and financing questions, subject to a precise financial-services perimeter assessment.

A plain-English label, not an official activity name or code.

Boundaries & approvals to check

This activity does not establish permission to manage funds, sell securities, arrange credit or provide regulated investment advice. Marketing any regulated service requires the relevant regulator’s confirmation first.

Your independent consultant: Two Pillars Advisory

Two Pillars helps you define the business model, compare routes and prepare an application. We are an independent consultancy, not a licensing authority.

The licence issuer / regulator: the competent authority

The competent licensing authority decides the permitted activity scope and issues the licence. A sector regulator may separately assess and authorise regulated services. Neither decision is made by TPA.

Choose around your operations.

Advice itself can be regulated. The Capital Market Authority (CMA), formerly SCA, regulates financial advisory services concerning financial products under Article 3 of Federal Decree-Law 33 of 2025. Its Financial Consultancies definition includes financial-statement analysis and investment-linked planning. Article 6 requires prior CMA approval before relevant authorities register or license a person intending financial activities. Article 2 distinguishes financial-free-zone regimes and specified CBUAE matters, while addressing client targeting. Neither operational-finance headings nor non-personalised research establish an exemption. This guide remains held pending an exact service-perimeter determination.

For financial consultancy: Financial advice concerning financial products can be a licensed activity under the Capital Market Authority (CMA), formerly SCA. Federal Decree-Law 33 of 2025 Article 3 includes financial advisory services and requires licensing/approval. No exemption for Meydan’s practical-consultancy label was verified; the guide stays held.

Confirm the local operating route

Describe where customers, staff, premises and goods will be located. Ask the mainland issuer and any proposed free zone to confirm the exact scope and any permissions for operating outside the zone.

Map delivery across borders

Describe where the service is delivered or goods move. Confirm entity scope, destination requirements and any UAE local operations separately; international customers do not establish free zone eligibility.

Check the sector perimeter first

Describe the actual service, product and client type to the competent regulator. A commercial registration alone does not establish authorisation to deliver regulated services.

From scope to application.

1. Prepare sample deliverables and identify every financial product, recommendation, client type and proposed financing role.
2. Seek the chosen issuer’s and competent financial regulator’s determination of the exact scope before advertising services.
3. Map recommendations, financial-statement analysis and investment-linked planning to the CMA Financial Consultancies definition; describe public research, promotion, arranging and custody separately in the Article 6 submission.
4. Match engagement terms and compliance controls to the approved scope; do not start regulated services on a generic consultancy registration.

Illustrative planning sequence; the authority may require a different application order or additional steps.

Prepare the evidence. Price the scope.

A preparation checklist to discuss with the relevant authority — not a mandatory document list. Requirements and costs remain to be confirmed for your chosen route.

Conditional document checklist

Service perimeter statement

Prepare a precise description of deliverables, client types and what is explicitly not offered, for the authority’s assessment.

Qualifications and conduct file

If the chosen authority or regulator requests evidence of qualifications or professional arrangements, confirm accepted documents before paying for certification.

Client engagement terms

Match engagement terms to the actual authority-confirmed scope; removing investment wording from a contract does not create a regulatory exemption for financial analysis, planning or recommendations.

Line-item budget questions

Formation and scope review

Request a quotation for the exact consultancy wording; a regulated perimeter assessment may add separate regulator processes.

Professional insurance and compliance

If relevant: professional indemnity and compliance arrangements. Confirm applicability before budgeting.

Regulator perimeter review

If any deliverable approaches regulated financial services: a separate assessment before offering it. Confirm scope first.

Common mistakes worth avoiding.

• Assuming that advice is outside regulation simply because the consultant does not hold client money.
• Treating generic forecasts, research or a zone activity label as an express exemption from CMA licensing.

Authority information, independently explained.

Published by Two Pillars Advisory. References last checked 2026-10-27; each source’s check date and jurisdiction are shown below. Review is limited to the cited activity scope, not an approval or universal licensing assessment. Confirm current requirements directly before applying.

No affiliation, partnership or endorsement by the authorities listed.

• Meydan Free Zone: Financial Consultancy — inspected scope. Zone publication proposes practical financial consultancy and claims no SCA approval. The exemption statement is not accepted as regulator evidence; current primary CMA texts require a separate service-perimeter assessment. (Meydan Free Zone published scope, Dubai only, checked 2026-10-27)
• Capital Market Authority: Financial activities licensing manual — Article 2 and Appendix 1. Section 2 Article 2 requires licensing/approval of specified activities; Appendix 1 Fifth Category, Arranging and Advice, includes financial consulting. Does not establish an exemption for generic practical financial consultancy. (Federal capital-market licensing; legacy decisions subject to current law, checked 2026-10-27)
• Capital Market Authority: Federal Decree-Law 33 of 2025 — Articles 2, 3 and 82. Article 3(1)(n) includes financial advisory services concerning financial products; Article 3(2) requires licensing/approval. Article 2 distinguishes financial free zones and specified CBUAE matters, while addressing targeting clients in the State. Article 82 preserves only consistent existing decisions. (UAE federal capital-market scope and client targeting; statutory exclusions, checked 2026-10-27)
• Capital Market Authority: CMA transition — effective 1 January 2026. Official announcement states Federal Decree-Laws 32 and 33 of 2025 entered into effect on 1 January 2026 and renamed the Securities and Commodities Authority as the Capital Market Authority. (UAE federal authority name and commencement, checked 2026-10-27)
• Capital Market Authority: Financial Activities Definition — Financial Consultancies. Financial Consultancies includes purchase/sell/hold recommendations concerning financial products or virtual assets, financial-statement analysis and financial planning associated with investments. Publicly distributed research is not presumed exempt; classify actual deliverables with the regulator. (Federal CMA perimeter; financial-free-zone and CBUAE boundaries separately assessed, checked 2026-10-27)
• Capital Market Authority: Federal Decree-Law 33/2025 — Article 6. Article 6(1) prevents Relevant Authorities registering/licensing a legal person intending Financial Activities before CMA approval. Article 6(2) requires the prescribed application and supporting information; authority may request more. Current version displayed from 1 January 2026. (UAE federal CMA licensing framework, checked 2026-10-27)
• Capital Market Authority: Manual of Financial Activities. Manual definitions and licensing provisions identify financial consultancy as financial activity; the commercial label and absence of custody do not establish an exemption. Current scope must be read with Federal Decree-Law 33/2025 and its Article 6 approval requirement. (Federal CMA financial activities, checked 2026-10-27)
• Invest in Dubai: Search business activities. Official Dubai activity search. Final activity wording and code must be confirmed here or with the licensing authority before filing. (Dubai, checked 2026-09-12)
• Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET): Business licensing. Official Dubai business licensing information, including licence types and permit requirements. (Dubai, checked 2026-09-12)

Before you take the next step.

Connected activities & guides.

• Fund & Investment Management-Related Setup
• Bill & Debt Collection Services
• Credit Reporting
• Financial services hub
• Corporate tax consultancy
• Dubai mainland licensing guide