THE UAE COMMERCIAL COMPANIES LAW AMENDMENTS 2025: BRINGING MAINLAND CORPORATE STRUCTURES CLOSER TO FREE ZONE CAPABILITIES

Federal Decree‑Law No. 20 of 2025 (“the Amendment Law”),effective 1 October 2025, introduces material reforms to Federal Decree‑Law No. 32 of 2021 on Commercial Companies (“theCCL”).

These reforms apply toboth mainland companies and free‑zoneentities, except for free-zones which corporate legislation expressly derogatesfrom the CCL, such as DIFC, ADGM and DMCC.

The key changesenvisaged by the Amendment Law include:

1)     multiple share classes are introduced for LLCs,

2)     drag-along and tag-along mechanisms are explicitlyallowed,

3)     a framework for re-domiciliation between emirates as wellas between mainland and free zones is introduced,

4)     statutory succession mechanisms are introduced for sharesof LLCs and private joint stock companies.

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