REGISTRATION OF TITLE

pursuant to dubai law no. (7) of 2006, only united arab emirates (“uae”) and gulf cooperation council (“gcc”) nationals and companies wholly owned by such nationals have the right to own property interests in all areas of dubai and can register their rights. there is an exception for public joint stock companies and other companies that are listed on the dubai financial market.

other nationalities and their companies are granted a right to own a freehold interest, a right of usufruct or a long-term lease of up to 99 years in designated areas of dubai. these designated areas are set forth in regulation no. (3) of 2006 and include the palm island projects, the world islands, and the dubai marina, among others. dubai law no. (21) of 2006 sets forth the amended registration fees and provides that the purchaser shall pay a fee equal to 1% of the sales price and the seller 1% of the same. dubai law no. (7) of 2006 is liberal by local standards. abu dhabi laws no. (3) of 2005 and no. (19) of 2005, as amended by law no. (7) of 2007, do not permit non-gcc nationals or their companies to own freehold interests anywhere in abu dhabi, although they do have the right to own usufruct for a maximum term of 99 years and musataha (development) for a term of 50 years, which can be renewed, in designated areas, such as ai reem island. as a result, abu dhabi land development necessitates that sellers of real estate retain the freehold interest and transfer only the musataha right to joint ventures or companies in which non-gcc nationals own interests and agree to transfer the freehold interest to the non-gcc nationals at some time in the future when the law permits. difc law no. (14) of 2007 creates a new registration system pursuant to which the difc will guarantee freehold and leasehold for a term of over 1 year to real property within the difc for all companies and individuals, including foreign companies and nationals.