Clifford Chance

SPAC regime arrives in the UAE - An overview of the new UAE SPAC regulations

25 February 2022

The UAE Securities and Commodities Authority (the "SCA") has adopted a regulatory framework for Special Purpose Acquisition Companies ("SPACs"), which can now list on a securities market in UAE (namely, the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange or the Dubai Financial Market), with a new UAE Commercial Companies Law also having recently been enacted.

This briefing provides an overview of the key provisions in the SPAC regulations applicable in the UAE, as well as a high-level comparison of common SPAC features across the UAE, US, UK, the Netherlands and Singapore based on our experience on global SPAC-related transactions. This includes the first SPAC to list in London since the UK Financial Conduct Authority introduced its new SPAC rules in August 2021, as well as the first European de-SPAC with a German target company to have taken place since the wave of European SPACs began in 2021.

It is anticipated that the SCA will issue further implementing regulations relating to SPACs and we are monitoring these developments closely.

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