Company Registration in Sharjah Media City Free Zone - Business Starting & Setup

Sharjah Media City (SMC) Free Zone is located in the Emirate of Sharjah. With an area of 2590 sq. km, Sharjah is the third largest emirate in the UAE; it is situated 10 km off Dubai and an hour’s drive from Abu Dhabi. Due to its geocentric location, the emirate is an important business centre both domestically and internationally, including key markets in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

The proximity to the main trade routes, highly developed urban and social infrastructure, and a relatively low cost of rent, utilities and living made this emirate attractive for business and life, and also increased its reputation as the eleventh most attractive international destination for direct foreign investment in the world.

• Can use Latin characters.
• Must not be identical or similar to the name of an existing company.
• Must have an ending indicating the legal form (“FZE”).

Company registration in Sharjah Media City Free Zone includes the following steps:

1. Select a company name to be checked for availability (at least 2 names), the structure of the company (directors, members, manager) and type of licence (Trade, Service or Industrial);
2. Pay fees for services;
3. Provide the documents for directors / shareholders / attorneys (either originals or notarized copies);
4. Prepare and submit a set of documents for company registration, get the documents signed by the officers and shareholders of the company;
5. Receive the certificate of registration, articles and seal in the specified address.

The UAE does not have public company registries that would contain details of shareholders or directors. Information about free zone companies can only be obtained at the request of a local court.

The register of shareholders and directors of the company is not accessible to third parties.

Upon registration the company and the Free Zone authority sign a lease agreement for the office (shared desk); the address of such office is considered the official registered office address of the company.

Companies are required to have a common seal.

The redomiciliation of companies either to or from the UAE is permitted.

The director can be an individual. There are no requirements as to the residence of director; a non-resident can be appointed if the director does not carry out activities in the UAE.

The minimum number of directors is 1.

Details of directors are not accessible to public.

The manager can be an individual. There are no requirements as to the residence of manager; a non-resident can be appointed if the manager does not carry out activities in the UAE.

The minimum number of managers is 1; can be the same person as director.

Details of the manager are not accessible to public.

The minimum number of members/shareholders in a company is 1, the maximum is 50. Both individuals and legal entities can be shareholders. There are no residence requirements.

Sharjah Media City Free Zone does not require a company to necessarily have a local shareholder in its structure.

Details of shareholders are not accessible to public.

Despite that many jurisdictions consider creating a public register of beneficial owners, the UAE does not have one yet. This means that there is no open access to the beneficial ownership information. It is stored by a service provider, namely a company registration agent, trustees, lawyers, accountants and other professionals, subject to strict confidentiality. Information about the beneficial owner can only be disclosed to regulatory authorities (for example, during inspections for its availability) or by court order.

A company can only issue one class of shares of equal par value. Bearer shares are not permitted.

The capital can be denominated in UAE Dirhams (AED) only.

There is no requirement to provide a bank letter confirming the payment of share capital, in order to register a company in Sharjah Media City Free Zone.