Dubai to resume offshore title registrations

The Land Department of Dubai will recommence registration of titles for freehold properties in the names of foreign offshore companies in a week's time after stopping it briefly, Emirates Business can reveal.

"Stopping the registration was a temporary step to update our system since people sell their firms but fail to inform us. We wanted to ensure we have the correct names in our system and so an internal directive was issued a few weeks ago," said Mohammed Sultan Thani, Assistant Director-General of the department.

The directive, effective February 1, instructed the transaction department not to register titles in the name of foreign offshore companies such as companies registered in the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Seychelles, etc.

Bianca Gracias, an associate in the real estate team at Hadef & Partners, said: "The department is not registering titles to freehold properties in the name of foreign offshore companies. But officials at the department have confirmed they are accepting registration of titles in personal names and firms located in the UAE including UAE offshore companies, provided the shareholders are individuals and not foreign offshore companies."

However, this directive does not affect the ownership of properties registered in the name of foreign offshore firms that were registered before February 1, 2010.

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