Christopher Lester

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Doctor in white coat

International and local health providers in the UAE are increasingly looking to provide telemedicine services in the region. While the regulation of telemedicine remains inconsistent across the country, Dubai seems to be leading the way with significant regulatory developments in 2017.

Federal Regulatory Landscape

To market healthcare services in the UAE, a healthcare provider must establish a legal presence, hold a commercial licence to do business in the UAE (or in a free zone in the UAE), and possess the…

medical surgical

Telemedicine is a product of 20th century information and communication technologies. It is generally defined as the provision of healthcare services from a healthcare professional to a patient from a remote location using a telephone or the internet. International and local health providers are increasingly looking to provide telemedicine services in the region, specifically in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC). The regulation of telemedicine in the UAE, to date, has been inconsistent and needs to be…

Markets_dreamstime_4989821

On 15 June 2015, the Abu Dhabi Global Market (Global Market), Abu Dhabi’s financial free zone, published the following six new regulations concerning the regulation of non-financial services in the Global Market:

– Application of English Law Regulations;

– Companies Regulations;

– Operating Regulations;

– Insolvency Regulations;

– Employment Regulations; and

– Real Property Regulations.

As expected from the draft regulations issued by the Global Market earlier this year, the Global Market’s final approach in the regulations follows very closely…

United Arab Emirates, new commercial Law

The UAE has recently passed a new commercial companies law and approved some key changes to its public takeover regime.

1. New UAE Commercial Companies Law

UAE Federal Law No. (2) of 2015 Concerning Commercial Companies (2015 CCL) was published in the Official Gazette on 31 March 2015 and comes into force on 1 July 2015.

The 2015 CCL is substantially similar to the 2013 draft of the Commercial Companies Law (2013 Draft CCL). The key differences from the 2013…

The Abu Dhabi Global Market, Abu Dhabi’s new financial free zone, located on Al Maryah Island, recently issued a first wave of draft regulations and related consultation papers.

The Global Market’s general approach in the draft regulations follows very closely the  English law model. In particular, the Global Market is proposing to apply English common law and certain English statutes in the Global Market. No draft financial services regulation was included in the first wave of regulation.…

With the rise in frequency of mergers & acquisitions (M&A) in Africa, the 26 percent growth of M&A in the Middle East this year and the global volume and value of M&A at its highest for years in the first three quarters of 2014, global M&A activity is expected to continue its growth through 2014 and into the first quarter of 2015. Latham & Watkins recently hosted, in collaboration with PwC and the Dubai Economic Counsel (DEC), an industry …

GCC-based family businesses are increasingly looking towards the US commercial real estate market for potential investments. Latham & Watkins recently hosted a seminar in our Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Doha and Riyadh offices to discuss how GCC investors typically structure US commercial real estate investments and what US tax considerations businesses should keep in mind. A panel of four-US based real estate specialists (Richard Kleinman, Associate Director, LaSalle Investment Management, and Latham partners Michelle Kelban, Nathaniel Marrs and Alan Van…

On August 28, 2012, the Special Tribunal related to Dubai World (the “Tribunal”) formally approved the restructuring of more than US$2 billion of debt of Drydocks World LLC and Drydocks World – Dubai LLC (together, “Drydocks”) under a syndicated term loan facility and separate hedging agreements, in the first restructuring approved under Dubai Decree No. 57 for 2009 (“Decree 57”).

Decree 57 creates an unprecedented insolvency regime applicable to Dubai World and its subsidiaries. Decree 57 gives the Tribunal exclusive…

The UAE’s Draft Commercial Companies Law (CCL) introduces some significant changes to the existing CCL (Federal Law No. 8 of 1984). Already approved by the UAE Cabinet, the Draft CCL is expected to become law in the next few months.

Chris Lester, Jade Laktineh and Saad Khananiof the Abu Dhabi office and Charles Fuller of the Dubai office have prepared a five-part briefing series highlighting some of the key expected changes to the Draft CCL which covers changes …

Family-owned businesses continue to drive commercial activities in the economies of the Middle East. According to recent statistics, in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region alone, family businesses control over 90% of commercial activity.

Today, family businesses are confronted with numerous challenges in the changing economic environment, including governance, globalisation, technology, generational change and innovation.

As family-owned businesses in this region continue to play a major role in the economy, their success going forward depends on their ability to tackle…