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Article 4: Minimum Capital Requirements

C 21/2022 Effective from 1/10/2022
  1. 4.1 Aggregate Capital Funds consist of the following items:
     
    1. 4.1.1 Paid-up capital;
       
    2. 4.1.2 Reserves, excluding revaluation reserve; and
       
    3. 4.1.3 Retained earnings.
       
  2. 4.2 The following items must be deducted from Aggregate Capital Funds:
     
    1. 4.2.1 Accumulated losses; and
       
    2. 4.2.2 Goodwill.
       
  3. 4.3 The minimum required paid-up capital for a Specialized Bank is set out in the Minimum Capital for Banks Regulation.
     
  4. 4.4 UAE national ownership of a Specialized Bank must comprise at least 60% of total paid-up capital.
     
  5. 4.5 Specialized Banks must maintain Aggregate Capital Funds of at least 12.5% of its total assets at all times, and at least 17% during its first three years of operation. A Specialised Bank may, for the purposes of this calculation, reduce the total assets by the following items:
     
    1. 4.5.1 Cash collaterals; and
       
    2. 4.5.2 Sovereign guarantees.
       

    The items listed above in this Article must be legally enforceable.
     
  6. 4.6 A Specialized Bank must obtain approval from the Central Bank for any proposed distribution of profits or reduction in capital, including dividend distributions, and they must do so before announcing the proposed distribution publicly in a press announcement or by other means of communication and prior to submitting a proposal for a distribution for shareholder approval.
     
  7. 4.7 Any changes in the paid-up capital are subject to prior approval by the Central Bank.
     
  8. 4.8 No single shareholding in a Specialized Bank can exceed 20% of the total shareholding. This limit may be increased by decision of the Board of Directors of Central Bank, on a case by case basis.