UAE CMA (federal onshore) / FSRA (ADGM) / DFSA (DIFC)
Can I give investment advice in the UAE without a licence?
Content reviewed 2026-08-14 · How we check sources
Short answer
Not if what you are doing amounts to a regulated investment or financial advisory activity. Federal onshore capital-market advisory activities fall within the UAE Capital Market Authority (CMA) perimeter, while regulated advice carried on in or from ADGM or DIFC falls under the FSRA or DFSA respectively.
What this means
The UAE federal authority was renamed from the Securities and Commodities Authority to the Capital Market Authority with effect in 2026, so older materials that refer to the SCA should be read against the current CMA framework and current licence categories.
Not every piece of financial content is automatically regulated investment advice. The perimeter depends on factors such as whether the communication is a recommendation, whether it is personalised, how the service is held out to users, what instruments it concerns and what role the provider plays in the resulting transaction.
Features such as robo-advice, portfolio recommendations, copy-trading prompts or personalised investment suggestions should therefore be tested against the relevant regulator's definitions before launch rather than labelled 'education' solely because they appear inside an app or content product.
Official sources
UAE CMA — New CMA Law and 2026 authority framework ↗ADGM — Financial Services Regulatory Authority ↗DFSA — Dubai Financial Services Authority ↗Some source links need review. The content-review date above is separate from link availability.
Ask with your entity, activity and regulator.
Regulatory research, not legal advice. This answer has the scope and review date shown above; your institution decides applicability.