23 September 2026
DMCC formally established its Foundations Regulations on 23 September 2026, adding a dedicated foundation regime to the Dubai free zone best known for commodities trading. Under the new rules a DMCC Foundation is a legal entity separate from its founder, its councillors, its guardian and its beneficiaries, set up to hold and manage assets in line with its own stated objectives and governance arrangements. A DMCC Foundation can be established with initial assets starting from USD 100. The full rollout and the onboarding process are set to launch in the coming weeks, and prospective applicants are invited to register their interest now.
What DMCC established, and when
The announcement closes a loop that opened in June 2026, when DMCC said it was preparing to introduce Foundations as its next structuring solution. What happened on 23 September is the formal establishment of the regulations themselves, not another statement of intent. DMCC says the framework was developed following extensive market consultation, international benchmarking and a comparative review of leading foundation regimes.
The target audience is named explicitly: high net worth individuals, family offices, entrepreneurs and international private wealth clients who want more flexibility in the long term ownership, management and succession of assets. In other words, this is a structuring product rather than an operating licence, and it sits alongside the trading and services licences DMCC is normally associated with.
How a DMCC Foundation is built
The core of the framework is legal separation. A DMCC Foundation is established as an entity in its own right, distinct from the person who creates it, from the council that runs it, from the guardian who oversees it and from the beneficiaries who ultimately receive value from it. Assets are held and managed according to the objectives written into the Foundation and the governance arrangements attached to them.
That separation is what makes the structure useful for succession. Because the Foundation owns the assets in its own name, ownership does not pass through a personal estate when the founder dies, and continuity of management is defined in advance rather than settled afterwards. DMCC lists four purposes the structure is designed to support: long term asset holding, succession planning, wealth preservation and intergenerational continuity.
The framework also gives founders room to write the rules. According to DMCC, founders can establish provisions covering beneficiaries, the management and distribution of assets, and governance and decision making arrangements. Certain powers may be reserved to founders or to other designated persons, including powers relating to investment decisions, appointments and beneficiaries. A founder who wants to keep control of the investment strategy while handing administration to a council can, on the face of the regulations, do exactly that.
The USD 100 figure and what it does not cover
The number that will travel furthest from this announcement is USD 100, the minimum initial assets with which a DMCC Foundation can be established. It is worth being precise about what that figure means and what it does not.
- It is the minimum value of assets the Foundation starts with, not the cost of setting one up.
- DMCC has not published registration fees, annual renewal fees or service charges for Foundations in this announcement.
- No minimum contribution schedule, asset class restriction or valuation method is described in the public text.
- No statement is made in the announcement about tax treatment, reporting obligations or substance requirements.
Anyone reading USD 100 as the total cost of a Dubai succession structure is reading more into the announcement than DMCC has said. The realistic figure will be the registration and administration cost, and that is precisely what the supporting guidance due in the coming weeks is expected to set out.
Where Foundations sit next to SPVs and holding companies
This is the third structuring product DMCC has added in roughly two years. In 2025 the free zone introduced Special Purpose Vehicle and Holding Company licences, widening the range of structures available to investors operating across global markets. Foundations are positioned as the option built specifically around long term continuity, asset ownership and governance, complementing the private wealth and family office community supported through the DMCC Wealth Hub and the DMCC FinX financial ecosystem.
Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of DMCC, framed the addition in terms of capacity: Dubai is attracting growing volumes of global capital and investment, and the infrastructure available to manage that capital has to evolve at the same pace. By adding Foundations to the existing SPV and holding company structures, he said, DMCC is building a more comprehensive platform for individuals, families and businesses to structure, preserve and deploy capital from Dubai over the long term, including for succession, governance and intergenerational continuity.
What this changes for business in the UAE
Foundations are not new to the country. DIFC, ADGM and RAK ICC have operated foundation regimes for years, and families structuring assets in the UAE have had somewhere to go. What changes on 23 September is where the structure can live. DMCC is a trade focused commercial free zone, so an operating business and the vehicle that holds it can now sit inside the same jurisdiction, with one registry, one set of counterparties and one onboarding process.
Three practical groups are affected. Existing DMCC licence holders can now consider holding their shares through a Foundation registered in the same free zone rather than in a separate jurisdiction. Family offices already using the DMCC Wealth Hub gain a succession vehicle without moving. And founders comparing DIFC or ADGM foundations against a trade oriented free zone now have a third comparison to run, on cost, on governance flexibility and on how the structure interacts with the operating company underneath it.
The practical sequence has not changed, though. A structure is only as good as what sits under it: a correctly licensed operating entity, a working bank relationship and clean corporate records. If you are still at the first step, our guide to company formation in the UAE sets out the choices between mainland and free zone, and we cover the wider shift toward family structures in our note on the UAE as a family wealth and succession hub.
What is not open yet
Registration is not live. DMCC says it is advancing the final elements of the market rollout, including supporting guidance on establishing and administering a DMCC Foundation, alongside a streamlined digital onboarding experience, both due in the coming weeks. Until that guidance is published, the only action available is registering interest with DMCC.
For anyone planning around this, that timing matters. A succession structure is usually set up in parallel with a licence renewal, a share transfer or a bank onboarding, and none of those wait for a free zone to finish its rollout. The sensible move is to fix the operating layer now and slot the Foundation in when the rules and fees are published.
How Atlant Capital can help
We work with the operating layer that any holding structure depends on. That means choosing and obtaining the right licence, preparing corporate documents that a registry and a bank will both accept, and keeping the paperwork consistent across entities so a later restructuring does not stall.
- Company setup in Dubai and across the UAE, including free zone selection and activity matching.
- Corporate bank account opening for newly incorporated and restructured entities.
- Document preparation, legalisation and corporate housekeeping for groups holding assets through several entities.
- A clear read of what a new regime does and does not offer, before a decision is made on it.
If you hold a DMCC licence or are weighing where to place a holding structure in the UAE, write to us and we will map the options against your actual set of entities.
Conclusion
DMCC now has a foundation regime on the books, with legal separation between the Foundation and everyone connected to it, reserved powers for founders who want them, and an entry threshold of USD 100 in initial assets. What it does not yet have is published fees, guidance or an open application channel, and those are the details that decide whether a structure is worth building. The regulations are established, the product is not yet on sale, and the gap between the two should close within weeks.
Source: DMCC.
FAQ
What is a DMCC Foundation?
A DMCC Foundation is a legal entity established under the DMCC Foundations Regulations, formally put in place on 23 September 2026. It is separate from its founder, its councillors, its guardian and its beneficiaries, and it holds and manages assets according to the objectives and governance arrangements written into it. DMCC designed it for long term asset holding, succession planning, wealth preservation and continuity across generations.
How much does it cost to set up a DMCC Foundation?
DMCC has not published registration or renewal fees for Foundations. The only figure in the announcement is the minimum initial assets, which start from USD 100. That is the value the Foundation is established with, not the cost of establishing it. Fees are expected to appear with the supporting guidance DMCC says will be introduced in the coming weeks.
When can you register a DMCC Foundation?
Not yet. As of 23 September 2026 DMCC is still finalising the market rollout, including guidance on establishing and administering a Foundation and a digital onboarding process, both due in the coming weeks. Interested parties can register their interest with DMCC in the meantime, but applications are not being processed.
How is a DMCC Foundation different from a DMCC SPV or holding company?
DMCC introduced Special Purpose Vehicle and Holding Company licences in 2025 as ownership structures for investors operating across markets. A Foundation is built around a different problem: continuity. It has no shareholders, it is governed by a council and a guardian rather than by owners, and it is designed so that assets stay with the structure and pass according to its rules rather than through a personal estate.
Do Foundations already exist elsewhere in the UAE?
Yes. DIFC, ADGM and RAK ICC have operated foundation regimes for several years, and families structuring assets in the UAE have used them. The DMCC framework adds a fourth option and places it inside a commercial free zone, so an operating company and the structure holding it can be registered in the same jurisdiction.
