Minimum Share Capital in Dubai: Is There Really a Minimum, Where Did the AED 300,000 Myth Come From, and What Should You Declare?

Start with the statute, because it settles the question in one sentence. Article 76 of Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2021 on Commercial Companies, the article headed "Capital of the Company" in the limited liability company chapter, says the company "shall have a sufficient capital to achieve the object of its incorporation and the capital shall consist of shares equal in value" [1]. That is the entire requirement. There is no number in it. A Dubai mainland LLC has no fixed statutory minimum share capital.

The AED 300,000 figure that still appears on consultancy pages, forum answers and bank checklists was not invented. It was real law. Under the original Federal Law No. 8 of 1984, an LLC in Dubai needed AED 300,000 of share capital, while the other emirates required AED 150,000, a Dubai-specific variance that no longer exists in any form. It was abolished by presidential decree effective 1 June 2009. Anyone quoting it in 2026 is quoting a rule that has been dead for roughly seventeen years.

Since 2013, our team has incorporated mainland and free zone companies across the UAE, and this question comes up in almost every first call, usually because someone has been told to show money they do not need to show. This guide sets out what the law says, where genuine minimums exist, what the deposit wording in Article 76(3) means in practice, and what figure to put on your own licence. Our mainland company setup page covers the wider formation process. This is a guide, not legal advice.

Is there a minimum share capital for a Dubai mainland LLC?

No. Article 76(1) of Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2021 requires "sufficient capital to achieve the object of its incorporation" and gives the Council of Ministers a reserve power to set a minimum by decision. We found no Cabinet decision exercising that power for LLCs generally, so the sufficiency test is the operative rule [1].

Article 76(1) in full, from the official text hosted by the Ministry of Economy [1]:

"1- The Company shall have a sufficient capital to achieve the object of its incorporation and the capital shall consist of shares equal in value. Based on the proposal of the Minister in coordination with the competent authorities, the Council of Ministers may issue a decision determining the minimum limit of the capital of the Company."

Two things follow. First, sufficiency is a relative test. A consultancy with two employees needs a different figure from a contractor bidding with performance bonds. The law does not give you the number; it says the number must make sense against what you say you will do.

Second, the Cabinet could set a minimum tomorrow, because the power sits in the same sentence. That is why we treat "there is no minimum" as the position today rather than a permanent feature of the law. The wider 2026 picture is covered in our guide to the UAE commercial companies law.

Common Mistake: Reading "no minimum" as "capital is meaningless". The figure you declare goes into your memorandum of association, appears on your licence in most cases, and is the number a counterparty, a landlord or a tender committee will see. It is a statement about the business, and Article 76(2) attaches an obligation to it.

Where did the AED 300,000 figure come from, and when did it die?

From the law that governed UAE companies before 2009. Federal Law No. 8 of 1984 set LLC minimum share capital at AED 300,000 in Dubai and AED 150,000 elsewhere in the UAE. A presidential decree abolished those minimums with effect from 1 June 2009. The figure has been wrong for roughly seventeen years.

This history explains why the myth is so durable. It was not a rumour. For twenty-five years it was the correct answer, and in Dubai that answer was AED 300,000 while a company in Sharjah or Ajman needed half that. Advisers and bank staff learned it as a fact, and facts learned that way outlive the rules behind them.

One honesty note. The 2009 abolition date rests on secondary legal commentary rather than a primary instrument we could pull from a government portal, because repealed laws are not prominently hosted. The current position is fully verifiable from the 2021 text [1]; the date the old figure stopped applying is not, to the same standard.

Real Talk: If an adviser tells you in 2026 that AED 300,000 is mandatory for a Dubai LLC, you have learned something about the adviser rather than about the law. The follow-up question is simple: which article of Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2021 says so? There is no answer, because there is no such article.

Does the law require you to deposit the capital in a bank?

The text says yes. Article 76(2) requires contributions to be "paid in full at the time of incorporation" and Article 76(3) says cash contributions "shall be deposited with a bank operating in the State" [1]. In observed practice, a standard mainland LLC formation is not usually held up for a paid-up capital certificate. That gap is real.

The wording [1]:

"2- Contributions may be in cash and/or in kind and shall be paid in full at the time of incorporation. 3- Contributions in cash shall be deposited with a bank operating in the State..."

Most articles stop at "there is no minimum capital" and never mention that the statute contains a full payment obligation and a bank deposit instruction. That omission is why founders get caught later, in a dispute or a diligence exercise rather than at formation.

Be precise about that right-hand column. It is our informed observation from files we have processed, not something a Department of Economy and Tourism page confirms. No government body publishes a statement that it does not enforce a provision, and proving a negative from an official source is not possible. Treat the left column as law and the right column as practice that could change without the law changing at all.

The practical reading is this. The absence of a checkpoint is not permission to treat declared capital as fiction. If a shareholder disputes ownership, a creditor brings a claim, or a buyer runs diligence, the question "was this capital ever paid?" is answered against Article 76(2), not against what the counter asked for on formation day. That housekeeping is part of what our post-setup services team handles.

Which entity types do carry a statutory minimum?

Joint stock companies. The same law that leaves LLCs to a sufficiency test sets hard figures for them: AED 30,000,000 issued capital under Article 195, and AED 5,000,000 issued and fully paid under Article 258, with a grandfather clause for private joint stock companies registered before the law took effect [1].

The verbatim wording, first from Article 195 [1]:

"The issued capital of the Public Joint Stock Company shall not be less than (30,000,000) thirty million dirhams."

Then from Article 258 [1]:

"The issued capital of the Company shall not be less than (5,000,000) five million dirhams and shall be paid in full... Private Joint Stock Companies existing and registered with the Ministry prior to the effective date of this Decree-Law shall be excluded from the minimum limit of capital set forth in clause (1) of this article."

That grandfather clause matters more than it looks. A private joint stock company registered with the Ministry before 2 January 2022 is expressly excluded from the AED 5,000,000 floor [1], so an older PrJSC may sit legitimately below the current minimum.

The choice of entity, not the choice of emirate, brings capital requirements into play. Our guide to business licence types in Dubai covers when a joint stock structure is genuinely needed, and our note on sole proprietorship in Dubai covers the single-owner route.

Pro Tip: Almost nobody who asks us about minimum capital needs a joint stock company. The AED 30,000,000 and AED 5,000,000 figures circulate in search results and frighten people setting up a trading or services LLC, where neither applies. If your plan does not involve a public offering, a regulated financial activity or a large shareholder base, an LLC under Article 76 is your structure. To confirm it against your activity list, talk to a setup expert→.

Do regulated activities have their own capital rules?

Yes, and they sit on top of company law rather than inside it. The law restricts banking and insurance to public joint stock companies unless otherwise provided, so they inherit the AED 30,000,000 floor from Article 195 [1] and then face separate capital adequacy rules from their regulator [5][6].

Two rulebooks apply at once. Company law asks what capital your entity form requires. Financial regulation asks what capital must be held on an ongoing basis against the risk your activity carries, a different concept from the memorandum figure.

We are labelling those sector figures honestly. The AED 30,000,000 and AED 5,000,000 company law floors are quoted directly from the statute [1]. The banking, insurance and capital markets numbers that circulate are different: they change with regulatory cycles, vary by category, and were not verified against a primary rulebook for this guide. For a regulated licence, act only on the figure in the regulator's rulebook on the day you apply [5][6].

How do free zones set share capital, and where are the real numbers?

Independently. Free zones make their own company regulations, so their share capital rules do not come from Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2021 at all. The pattern across the UAE has moved towards sufficiency tests and small nominal figures rather than the blanket minimums common a decade ago [2][3].

The clearest example is JAFZA. It previously ran blanket minimums of AED 1,000,000 for a Free Zone Establishment and AED 500,000 per shareholder for a two-shareholder Free Zone Company, the kind of figure that made people assume UAE formation required serious capital. Those were removed and replaced with a test of capital sufficient for the licensed activities, mirroring Article 76 almost word for word [3]. The exact date of that change rests on secondary legal commentary rather than a dated repeal notice.

The most useful number here is one a zone publishes itself. Dubai Internet City states on its own FAQ page that the minimum paid-up capital for an FZ-LLC is AED 10,000, with no minimum for branches of foreign or UAE companies [2]. First-party figures like that are rare.

The table deliberately gives no number for every zone, because inventing one is worse than useless when a zone can change its regulations without a press release. The pattern is real: most zones either set no fixed minimum or accept a modest declared figure. Confirm it with the zone at application, which we do on every file through our free zone company setup process.

Based on our experience, capital is almost never the deciding factor between zones. Activity coverage, visa eligibility, premises options, Designated Zone status for VAT and total first-year cost all matter more. We have never had a client for whom the gap between a nominal capital and AED 50,000 changed which zone was right.

What capital do DIFC and ADGM firms need?

For non-regulated commercial companies in either financial free zone, sufficiency logic applies rather than a fixed figure. For regulated financial firms, base capital requirements are real, tiered and material, set by the DFSA in DIFC and the FSRA in ADGM, scaling with what the firm is permitted to do [4].

The DFSA sets base capital by prudential category [4]:

Three cautions. These are rulebook figures and rulebooks change, so check the current DFSA Rulebook before building a business case on them [4]. Base capital is a floor rather than the requirement: the actual figure is the higher of base capital and the risk-based calculations for the category, and expenditure-based requirements often bite first. Categories also carry sub-classes that move the number.

We are deliberately not publishing an ADGM capital table. The FSRA sets its own tiers on similar logic, but we did not verify those figures, and a plausible-looking table of unverified numbers is how the next AED 300,000 myth gets made. Take ADGM figures from the FSRA rulebook directly.

For the far more common case, a non-regulated holding, advisory or group services company in either zone, there is no hard floor, and the analysis returns to sufficiency. Our guide to holding company setup covers where that structure earns its cost.

What capital figure should you actually declare?

A realistic one, tied to what the business will genuinely put to work in its first year. For most mainland LLCs and free zone companies, a figure between a nominal amount and roughly the first year's working capital is defensible under Article 76(1) and free of the problems inflated figures create [1].

Here is how we reason about it on a live file.

Quick Math: A founder is told to declare AED 300,000 "because that is the Dubai standard". The business is a two-person marketing consultancy spending perhaps AED 120,000 in its first year. That declaration creates a fully payable contribution obligation under Article 76(2) [1], buys no visa eligibility, and does not improve the bank application. The honest figure was smaller.

Common Mistake: Picking a big round number to look credible. Credibility comes from a licence with the right activities, a real office, a clean shareholder structure and an operating story a bank can follow. A large declared capital with an empty account behind it does the opposite, because the bank's compliance team notices the gap first.

What do banks actually look at when you open an account?

Substance and story, not declared capital. In our files, account decisions turn on the shareholder profile, the activity, where money is coming from and going to, the physical presence of the business and the quality of the documents. Declared capital rarely decides anything.

That last row matters. An inconsistency involving declared capital can hurt. A company declaring AED 1,000,000 while opening an account with a AED 20,000 deposit and a plan describing modest turnover has produced three documents that disagree, and compliance teams notice exactly that.

Our guide to opening a corporate bank account covers the documents, the timelines and the reasons applications get rejected.

Real Talk: We have opened accounts for companies with nominal declared capital and watched applications stall for companies with impressive figures on the licence. The variable was never the number. It was whether the business had a real address, a coherent activity and a founder who could explain the flows.

What actually drives your visa quota?

Your premises. For mainland companies, visa eligibility is driven by the size and type of the office or facility on your Ejari-registered lease. For free zone companies, the quota comes with the package and facility type you take, from a flexi-desk through to a warehouse.

We include this because "increase your capital to get more visas" is common bad advice. Adding a zero to your memorandum does not create an entitlement to another employee visa.

If your constraint is headcount, the conversation is about premises and the quota increase process, not capital. Our guide to how free zone visa quotas work sets out the zone side, and quota increases are a routine task for our post-setup services team once a company is running.

What is the risk of declaring too much?

An obligation you did not intend to take on. Article 76(2) states that contributions "shall be paid in full at the time of incorporation" [1]. The declared figure is therefore a commitment, and if the capital was never contributed, that gap can surface in a shareholder dispute, a creditor claim, diligence or an exit negotiation.

Treat the declared figure as a representation, not a decoration. Your documents say the shareholders subscribed for shares of that value and paid in full at incorporation. If a shareholder argues about entitlements, or a claimant asks what was actually put in, the memorandum is the starting point and Article 76(2) the standard it is read against [1].

Pro Tip: If capital genuinely needs to be larger, contribute it properly and document it. Article 76(2) expressly allows contributions "in cash and/or in kind" [1], so equipment, stock or other assets can form part of the capital where they are properly valued and recorded. That is a legitimate route to a substantial figure. Declaring a number and contributing nothing is not the same thing.

What if your licence already shows an inflated figure?

It is fixable, and usually not urgent. A capital reduction or memorandum amendment is a standard corporate change: a shareholder resolution, notarised amended documents and filing with the licensing authority. What matters more is that the position is documented and consistent.

We usually see this on companies formed years ago by an agent applying the old AED 300,000 rule out of habit. It rarely needs an emergency response. Tidy it at the next natural amendment point: a shareholder change, an activity addition or a renewal where documents are notarised anyway.

That last row is not a joke. Many founders have never read their own memorandum and do not know what capital figure it states. It is a few pages long and it governs ownership of the business.

To have the position reviewed and corrected, talk to a setup expert→ and we will tell you whether it is worth doing now or at renewal.

Real Client Stories

Real examples from businesses we have helped, details changed for privacy.

The founder told AED 300,000 was mandatory. A software consultant was quoted a formation package built around depositing AED 300,000 into a UAE bank account before his Dubai mainland licence could be issued, on the basis that this was the legal minimum. It has not been since 2009, and Article 76 sets no figure [1]. He formed the LLC with a realistic declared capital and put part of the money into the office lease that actually set his visa quota.

The AED 1,000,000 licence nobody could explain. A trading company came to us for a shareholder restructure. Its memorandum showed AED 1,000,000 of share capital, contributed by nobody, applied years earlier by an agent who thought a large figure looked serious. The incoming investor's lawyer asked the obvious question, and answering it cost three weeks and a set of reconstructed resolutions. It was the only item on the diligence list with no clean answer.

The zone that published its own number. A media technology startup was working from a table of free zone capital requirements found online, which showed figures in the hundreds of thousands and had ruled out its preferred zone on cost grounds. The zone's own FAQ set the minimum paid-up capital for an FZ-LLC at AED 10,000 [2]. The table was wrong, and the company was licensed where it wanted to be.

Get the capital question settled before it costs you

The short version: a Dubai mainland LLC has no fixed minimum share capital, only Article 76's requirement of capital "sufficient to achieve the object of its incorporation", with a reserve power sitting with the Council of Ministers [1]. Real floors exist for joint stock companies at AED 30,000,000 and AED 5,000,000 under Articles 195 and 258 [1], and for regulated firms under their own rulebooks [4][5][6]. Free zones set their own rules, and the published figures are small [2][3]. The AED 300,000 figure belongs to a repealed law.

Since 2013, BusinessDubai.ae has completed 700+ company registrations across the UAE, so we have written the capital clause into a great many memoranda of association and cleaned up a fair number written by other people. We will tell you what your structure genuinely requires, confirm the zone's current position rather than quote a table, and set a figure that is defensible without creating obligations you did not intend. Our mainland company setup and free zone company setup pages set out what each route costs, our post-setup services cover amendments afterwards, or talk to a setup expert→.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the minimum share capital for an LLC in Dubai?

There is no fixed minimum. Article 76(1) of Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2021 requires only capital "sufficient to achieve the object of its incorporation", with a reserve power for the Council of Ministers [1].

Is the AED 300,000 minimum still required in Dubai?

No. It was genuine under Federal Law No. 8 of 1984, where Dubai LLCs required AED 300,000 and other emirates AED 150,000, and it was abolished effective 1 June 2009 [1].

Why do so many websites still quote AED 300,000?

Because it was correct for twenty-five years and was learned as a fact by a generation of advisers. Repealed rules outlive their repeal, especially when the old figure sounds authoritative.

Which law governs share capital for UAE companies today?

Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2021, effective 2 January 2022, published by the Ministry of Economy [1]. DIFC and ADGM operate under their own frameworks.

Does the law say I must deposit my capital in a bank?

Yes, as written. Article 76(3) says cash contributions "shall be deposited with a bank operating in the State", and Article 76(2) requires contributions to be paid in full at incorporation [1].

So do I actually have to show a bank deposit certificate?

In our observed practice, a standard mainland LLC formation is not usually held up for one. That is an informed observation from our files rather than a published government position, and non-enforcement is not repeal.

Can capital be contributed as assets instead of cash?

Yes. Article 76(2) states that contributions "may be in cash and/or in kind" and must be paid in full at incorporation. In-kind contributions need proper valuation and recording [1].

What is the minimum capital for a public joint stock company?

AED 30,000,000. Article 195 states the issued capital "shall not be less than (30,000,000) thirty million dirhams" [1].

What is the minimum capital for a private joint stock company?

AED 5,000,000, issued and paid in full under Article 258. Private joint stock companies registered with the Ministry before the law took effect are expressly excluded from that floor [1].

Does the private joint stock minimum apply to older companies?

No. Article 258 contains a grandfather clause excluding companies existing and registered with the Ministry before the effective date of the Decree-Law from the minimum capital requirement [1].

Do banks and insurance companies have higher capital requirements?

Yes. The law restricts them to public joint stock companies unless otherwise provided, so the AED 30,000,000 floor applies [1], with sector capital adequacy rules on top. Those sector figures are not independently verified here [6].

What capital do SCA-regulated firms need?

It varies by category. Third-party sources cite AED 30 million or more for dealing as principal, but we treat that as indicative and unverified. Check the current SCA rules [5].

Do free zones follow the federal minimum capital rules?

No. Free zones make their own company regulations and set share capital independently of Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2021 [2][3].

What is the minimum capital in Dubai Internet City?

AED 10,000 minimum paid-up capital for an FZ-LLC, with no minimum for branches of foreign or UAE companies. That is a first-party figure from the zone's own FAQ [2].

Does JAFZA still require AED 1,000,000 for an FZE?

No. JAFZA removed its former blanket minimums of AED 1,000,000 for an FZE and AED 500,000 per shareholder for a two-shareholder FZCO, in favour of capital sufficient for the licensed activities [3]. The exact date rests on secondary commentary.

What is DMCC's minimum share capital?

Commonly reported as AED 50,000 declared with AED 10,000 per shareholder, but we could not confirm this on dmcc.ae, so treat it as third-party reporting and verify with the zone before relying on it.

Do most free zones have a minimum capital requirement?

Many have none, and others accept a nominal declared figure at incorporation. The general direction across UAE zones has been away from substantial blanket minimums [2][3].

What capital do DIFC regulated firms need?

Base capital is set by prudential category in the DFSA Rulebook: USD 10,000,000 for Category 1, USD 2,000,000 for Category 2 and USD 200,000 for Category 3D. Rulebook figures change, so check the current version [4].

What about ADGM capital requirements?

The FSRA sets its own tiers on similar logic. We are not publishing an ADGM table because those figures were not verified for this guide. Take them from the FSRA rulebook.

Do non-regulated DIFC or ADGM companies have a minimum?

Generally no fixed figure. The analysis returns to sufficiency for the activity, plus whatever your bank and counterparties expect to see.

How much capital should I actually declare?

A figure reflecting what the business will genuinely put to work in its first year. For most consultancies that is nominal to around AED 50,000; for stock-holding traders, closer to real working capital.

Does a higher declared capital help me get a bank account?

No. Banks weigh shareholder profile, activity, premises, expected flows and source of funds. A mismatch between declared capital and the rest of your application can hurt, but a large figure does not help.

Does share capital affect my visa quota?

No. Mainland visa eligibility is driven by the size and type of your leased premises, and free zone quotas come with the package and facility type. Capital has no direct effect.

Can I increase my visa quota by raising capital?

No. Raising capital does not create visa entitlement. The effective lever is premises: moving from a flexi-desk to a physical office, or taking a larger facility.

What is the risk of declaring capital I have not paid?

Article 76(2) says contributions shall be paid in full at incorporation, so the figure is a stated commitment [1]. Unpaid subscribed capital can surface in shareholder disputes, creditor claims, diligence and exit talks.

Can I reduce the share capital shown on my licence?

Yes. A capital reduction or memorandum amendment is a standard corporate change: shareholder resolution, notarised amended documents and filing with the licensing authority.

Is an inflated capital figure urgent to fix?

Usually not, if there is no dispute and no transaction pending. It is commonly tidied at the next amendment, and becomes a priority when a sale, an investment or a shareholder disagreement is in view.

Does a branch office need share capital?

No. A branch is not a separate legal entity and has no share capital of its own. Dubai Internet City makes this explicit for branches of foreign and UAE companies in its own FAQ [2].

Could the UAE introduce a minimum capital for LLCs in future?

It could. Article 76(1) expressly allows the Council of Ministers, on the Minister's proposal and in coordination with the competent authorities, to set a minimum limit of capital by decision [1]. No such general decision for LLCs was found.

References

[1] Ministry of Economy. Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2021 on Commercial Companies, effective 2 January 2022, official English text. Art 76(1) "sufficient capital to achieve the object of its incorporation" plus the Council of Ministers' reserve power; Art 76(2) contributions in cash and/or in kind paid in full at incorporation; Art 76(3) cash contributions deposited with a bank operating in the State; Art 195 PJSC issued capital not less than AED 30,000,000; Art 258 PrJSC issued capital not less than AED 5,000,000 paid in full, with the exclusion for companies registered before the effective date. Commercial Companies Law PDF

[2] Dubai Internet City. FAQs. Source of the first-party AED 10,000 minimum paid-up capital figure for an FZ-LLC, and of the position that branches of foreign or UAE companies carry no minimum. Dubai Internet City FAQs

[3] Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority. Company formation. Entity options and formation requirements. The removal of the former blanket minimums of AED 1,000,000 for an FZE and AED 500,000 per shareholder for a two-shareholder FZCO rests in part on secondary legal commentary for its exact date. JAFZA company formation

[4] Dubai Financial Services Authority. DFSA Rulebook, base capital requirement provisions. Source of the category examples of USD 10,000,000 for Category 1, USD 2,000,000 for Category 2 and USD 200,000 for Category 3D. Figures change and base capital is a floor rather than the full requirement. DFSA Rulebook base capital requirement

[5] Securities and Commodities Authority. Regulator for capital markets activities outside the financial free zones. Third-party base capital figures by category, including those cited for dealing as principal, are indicative and were not verified for this guide. Securities and Commodities Authority

[6] Central Bank of the UAE. CBUAE Rulebook, the consolidated source for regulations applying to banks and insurance entities, including capital adequacy requirements sitting on top of the Commercial Companies Law entity floor. Sector figures were not independently verified for this guide. CBUAE Rulebook