Security Token Offering License UAE

ISIC classification: Other financial service activities, except insurance and pension funding activities, n.e.c. (6499)

Typically requires Designated Zone status for VAT purposes

About this activity

Structures security-token offerings that represent equity, debt, or real-asset ownership, coordinating issuance and investor onboarding.

Regulatory requirements

Requires external approval — Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) (Dubai) / Securities & Commodities Authority (SCA) (other Emirates) & Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE)

100% foreign ownershipYes

Facility requirementLicensed VARA/SCA-Compliant Office with Cybersecurity & Risk Controls

Market Analysis

"Security Token Offering" is the naming variant in this dataset's seven-code issuance cluster that most clearly signals securities-like characteristics (profit rights, equity-like claims, revenue sharing) rather than a pure utility token — which means this specific activity may also intersect with the UAE Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA), not VARA alone, depending on exactly how the token is structured.

That's a meaningfully different — and more complex — compliance path than the other issuance-cluster codes here (Digital Token Issuance, Initial Coin Offering Services, Token Issuance, VA Issuance Category-1/2, Virtual Asset Issuance), which typically stay within VARA's sole jurisdiction if structured as utility tokens.

Dubai-only in practice; 100% foreign ownership applies. Recommend flagging this specific code for legal review on token structure before quoting a straightforward VARA-only licensing path.

Available in: . A detailed per-emirate fee breakdown isn't published for this activity yet — check back soon, or get a scored recommendation for your specific business below.

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