United Arab Emirates Country Profile

Land Administration

Business Corruption

An investigation of top officials of the Dubai mortgage lender Tamweel was running at the end of 2008. A few days after this case, several other investigations of private and state-owned real estate company employees were opened, which highlighted misappropriation of company funds and financial malfeasance. The investigations eroded market confidence and have consequently been mirrored in the falling prices of real-estate shares on the UAE stock market. In an attempt to restore marked practices the government has started a larger screening of corporate practices related to Dubai's booming real estate market.

Political Corruption

The US Department of State 2009 reports that no property owned by a foreign investor has been expropriated in recent years and that this is not likely to occur in the future, unless very compelling reasons should force authorities to do so. No regulations with regard to expropriation exist in the UAE, but it is stated that should it occur, compensation would probably be generous.

Frequency

The World Bank & IFC: Doing Business 2010:
- Registering property in the UAE requires a company to go through 1 administrative step, taking an average of 2 days at a cost of 2% the property value.

- These figures are lower than both the regional and OECD corresponding averages.

World Economic Forum: The Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010:
- Business executives give the protection of property rights in the UAE, including financial assets, a score of 5.5 on a 7-point scale (1 being 'very weak' and 7 'very strong' with the average of the 133 countries covered being 4.5).