The Law of Commercial Procedure of the United Arab Emirates : Issuing Law: Federal Law No. 18 of 1993

The main body of the Law commences with definitions of what consitutes commercial activity: those persons who shall be deemed to be traders, and the conditions of eligibility to engage in trade.

It sets out the requirements of accounting and record-keeping which are obligatory for all traders.

There is comprehensive legislation of a range of general commercial matters such as commercial houses, trade names, commercial data, commercial obligations and contracts, sale on deferred terms, sale at auction, international sales, commercial pledges and deposits in public depositories.

Following this there is detailed regulation of several of the most important specific areas of commercial activity including the different forms of commercial agency, commercil representation, brokerage and carriage of goods and persons.

The large section on banking operations is systematic and exhaustive, as is the regulation of actions and transactions involving commercial and financial documents.

The last section deals with bankruptcy, composition to avert bankruptcy, the procedures and administration of bankruptcy and its consequences. it is indicated in Article 196 that the establishment of a stock exchange will be subject to the agreement of the Council of Ministers and promulgation of a Federal Law regulating the activity of the Exchange.