Individual
Opening a bank account in Dubai is very easy. Although
requirements vary from bank to bank, a prospective individual
account holder will usually be asked to produce a copy
of his passport (including the residence visa page) and
a letter of no-objection from his employer/sponsor to
open a bank account.
Cheque
books are not normally issued to non-UAE residents. However,
most banks allow non-UAE residents to open saving accounts
as opposed to current accounts on the recommendation of
a current UAE resident account holder. The purpose of
this is to enable the bank to maintain a contact for the
non-resident in Dubai.
Corporate
A prospective company/corporate account holder wishing
to open a bank account is normally required to produce
the following: a valid trade license, a letter confirming
its membership of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce &
Industry, a board resolution authorizing the opening
of the account, certified copies of the memorandum and
articles of association, a list of directors and a registration
certificate from the Ministry of Economy & Commerce.
One
of the pre-requisites for establishing a limited liability
company (LLC) is that its share capital must be at least
AED. 300,000/- (in Dubai). In such cases, most banks
will allow a prospective LLC to open a fixed deposit
account on presentation of the above letter for the
purpose of establishing to the DED that it has met the
minimum capital requirement. It should be noted that
to do so, most banks will require all the intended shareholders
of the LLC or the authorized signatory of the company
to sign the account opening forms at the bank itself.
Cheques
When an account has been opened and a cheque book obtained,
the account holder should always bear in mind the following
when operating the account.
It
is a criminal offence to write a cheque if there are
insufficient funds in the account to enable the bank
to honor payment. The holder of a dishonored cheque
is entitled to complain to the police. In the event
of such a complaint, the drawer and /or the signatory
of the cheque will be arrested.
If payment is subsequently not made, the matter will
be referred to the Public Prosecutor. It is of course
open to the Public Prosecutor to order that the drawer's
and /or signatory's passport be attached or seized to
prevent him from leaving the jurisdiction. Persons convicted
of writing cheques which are subsequently dishonored
are usually sent to prison.
It is not possible to cancel payment of a cheque unless
(i) it has been lost or stolen or (ii) the bearer of
the cheque has become bankrupt. Banks in Dubai will
not refrain from honoring a cheque unless they are satisfied
that one of these conditions exists.
In any event, there are provisions in the law which
allow the bearer of a cheque to object to the cancel
of payment. If such an objection is found to be valid,
the bank will be required to honor the cheque.
The UAE Central Bank has ruled that if an account holder
issues three or more cheques which are dishonored, he
shall be prohibited from obtaining a cheque book and
operating a cheque account.
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