Audit and Accounting Services for DCCA – (TECOM)

Audited financial accounts of DCCA-registered companies are now required to be submitted to the concerned department in this free zone.

It is essential to follow the rules of the land and be in compliance with the Federal Law No. 4 of 2002 on Ant-Money Laundering and Combatting Financing of Terrorism. Because of this, the Dubai Creative Clusters Authority (DCCA) has decided to release a circulation on having financial accounts be audited from 2018 and subsequent years. These will be submitted to them and failing to do so will mean the suspension of the annual renewal process of a company.

DCCA and What It Stands For

DCCA used to be called Dubai Technology and Media Free Zone Authority (DTMFZA) but was changed to Dubai Creative Clusters Authority (DCCA) in 2014 under the Law No. 15 of 2014 by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai. It’s been mandated to have the lead on having Dubai to be developed as full of creative industries. This mandate supports Dubai Strategy for Innovation of the government.

There are a lot of well-known free zones in Dubai that are being governed by the DCCA. These industry-specific free zones greatly meet the required needs of companies according to the nature of their business. The infrastructure and facilities that are made for creativity and innovation attract investors to DCCA’s free zones.

The following free zones are segregated according to the category that they fall into in which businessmen can choose from:

The companies that are established and will be formed in these free zones are expected to drive the knowledge-based economy of Dubai and encourage more creativity and innovation in the country for enhancement of skills and knowledge on these kinds of industries.

What is Circular 271: Enhanced compliance with Federal Law No. 4 of 2002 Regarding Anti-Money Laundering and Combatting Financing of Terrorism?

DCCA aims to not simply follow the rules and implement them but to ensure that there is good compliance with the Federal Law No. 4 of 2002 on Anti-Money Laundering and Combatting Financing of Terrorism.

DCCA has released a statement on revising the requirements on Know Your Customer (KYC) for business partners this 2018.

What is Ultimate Beneficial Owners (UBO)?

There are instances wherein a company or companies own a parent company of a branch office or shareholder located in the DCCA. UBO is then a process for the maintenance and identification of the owner/s of a company.

• Written confirmation of Ultimate Beneficial Owners (UBO) are required to be maintained by certain business partners according to the following circumstances:
  – If they have companies outside the UAE and they are DCCA’s business partners registered as branch offices of the aforementioned companies; or
  – If they have companies acting as shareholders outside the UAE and they are registered as FZLLCs in DCCA.
• From the 1^st of July 2018, every company in DCCA are expected and required to hold this UBO information with them.

Submission of Audited Financial Accounts of DCCA-Registered Companies

The DCCA has also mandated for companies in the DCCA to submit their audited financial accounts starting from 2018 and onwards. It’s a yearly audit wherein both FZLLCs and branch offices are required to comply with this rule.

It should be noted that the companies will only have until the 1^st of May 2019 for the submission of their audited financial accounts if they have the date of their license renewal falling between January and April.

Failing or a delay in submission will result to the suspension of the annual license renewal process of a company. This is because the process is entirely dependent on whether a company has complied with this mandate or not.

On the other hand, the submission of the audited financial accounts will be part of the process of annual license renewal for those that have the date of their license renewal between May and December.

There are certain requirements that DCCA has for the submission of audited financial accounts for FZLLCs.  They are all stated in Regulations 63-68 of the DCC Private Companies Regulations 2016.

Audit by FAR – Farhat Office & Co.

For more than 30 years, FAR – Farhat Office & Co. has served many companies from various industries when it comes to auditing, delivering quality service every single time. We ensure proper and smooth auditing, providing solutions for your company as well when needed.

We encourage you to be prepared for the audit from this early period to ensure that you have everything in order for your submission to the DCCA.