Frequently asked questions

For lost cards, you can complete the Cash Dividends Services Form by selecting issue a replacement card.  You can submit your request via DFM eServices at www.dfm.ae or DFM Smart Services App.  Alternatively, submit your request in person at the Dubai CSD Investor Affairs, Trading Floor, Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai, or submit the request through your Trading Member.

• UAE mailing addresses: approximately 10 working days via courier and the investor will be notified by SMS prior to delivery.
• Overseas mailing addresses: approximately 15 working days by registered post / courier during pandemic.

We provide the following options to receive your statement by email & fax:

• Free registration to the daily trades statement by email,sms & fax by filling in the “Changing/Adding of Investor Information”.
• Free registration  to the Annual statement through DFM Customer Services on +971 4 305 5555 or email to client@dfm.ae.
• Subscription to the Statements daily, weekly & monthly and indicate your preference by email or fax.
• Online registration to the eServices for instant access to your stock portfolio details anytime.

In order to process the transfer off the market, the shares must be available in your CSD account.

Shares cannot be transferred if they are frozen. Frozen shares need to be un-frozen first; this process requires submission of an original certificate or copy of Allotment Notice to the DFM. 

Investors presence is not required in below cases :

1. In case of Representative
2. Authenticate the form through one of the following: 
   • Licensed Trading Member at Dubai Financial Market
   • An accredited Bank in UAE licensed by UAE Central Bank
   • Notary Public and UAE embassy in foreign countries or by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Opening an Investor Number (NIN) is a fast-track service provided to investors. If you apply for the Investor Number in person at the Dubai CSD premises, the Investor Number (NIN) can be issued immediately once the request is submitted.

Yes. The Dubai Central Securities Depository (Dubai CSD) CSD is open to investors of any nationality based in any country. Any individual or institution can apply for an Investor Number (NIN) with the Dubai CSD in order to trade both DFM and Nasdaq Dubai listed securities.

Trading requires opening an account with a brokerage firm licensed on the DFM. After obtaining an Investor Number, you should approach one of the brokerage firms to open a trading account. 

For more information download the How to Trade on DFM and Nasdaq Dubai Guide.

Yes. Investors below the age of 21 or below are considered minors, and therefore the guardian must sign the Investor Number (NIN) Request Form on behalf of the minor.

• Provide a copy of valid custody license issued by the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA).
• Sign the custody agreement with the Dubai CSD.
• Provide Dubai CSD with an authorized signatories list.
• Provide Dubai CSD with a formal letter that identifies their member code in Dubai CSD’s system.
• Send an official letter to identify the preferred payment method in the case of dividend distribution and sign the related admission and undertaking letter provided by Dubai CSD.
• Send an official request for an annual subscription to the electronic connection to the CSD Equator system AS400 (optional).
• A formal letter specifying the list of email addresses which the daily electronic reports will be sent to as well as another list for other issues related to Dubai CSD announcements and notification purposes.
• A formal letter that includes the settlement account numbers (AED and USD) with one of Dubai CSD settlement banks.

• No. of usernames required.
• Each username’s authority level (view, entry, post, approve) for the Registry & Stock Transfer functions.
• Attach related fees of annual and installation fees (please refer to the related fees here).
Note: the custodian may request to change the authority level of a certain username in writing (not subject to fees), or re-set the password, or replace a lost token in writing (both subject to fees). 

To assure the continuity of services, custodians should ensure timely payment of the annual fees for each user and show proof of payment to CSD to avoid any disconnection.

Note: In the case of any technical error faced during the subscription, custodians are required to report this via e-mail with a full description of the error type as well as provide CSD with related print screens if possible. Please note that custodians will be unable to generate reports from the system; the required reports will only be provided by the DFM upon request.

• Complete Custodians Transfers from by the custodian. 
• Custodians should also provide a copy of the client’s written instruction of the same (signed). The signature will be verified against the signature on the “Entry of Investors Data” Form initially submitted (this only applies when the client is moving securities to a custody account).
• Global custodian letter / SWIFT instruction of the same (if applicable).
• Transfer fees (refer to the Services Catalogue)

• Complete Custodians members Transfers form by the custodian member.  
• Global custodian member letter / swift instruction of the same (if any).
• Transfer fees (refer to the Services Catalogue).

• Custodian member profile content in Arabic.
  
• Custodian member profile content in English.
  
• Custodian membe company logo (jpeg format).

• Fill the “Balance of Securities Statement” Form and deliver it either by hand, fax, or mail together with the related fees stamped and signed by the authorized signatory.
  

• Deposit the required fees in AED to Dubai CSD account with Emirates NBD – A/C Number: 0412063720929 and send a copy of the receipt to the DFM.
  
• Transfer the required fees amount in AED to Dubai CSD's account with Emirates NBD – IBAN Number: AE370260000412063720929 and send a copy of the SWIFT instruction to DFM.
  
• Issue a cheque made payable to ''Dubai CSD'' for the fee amount in AED.
  
• Pay the amount in cash.
  

• Investor Name.
• Investor Number.
  
• Company Name.
  
• Quantity of securities to be transferred.
  
• Custodian’s account to deposit the securities in the agent’s account.
  
• Signature of authorized signatories (if any).
  
• Submission of fees by custodian.
  

• An official letter requesting the change of name identifying the investor's current / old name and Investor Number (NIN).
  
• Global custodian’s letter / SWIFT instruction of the same.
  
• Attach the official supporting document of the name change (stamped and signed by an authorized person).
  

• The payment methods include: iVESTOR or Bank transfer.
  
• IBAN number for AED and USD accounts details are mandatory (if wire transfer is selected as method of payment).
  
• Sign and attach the related admission and undertaking letter provided by the DFM (see letter content letter template section at the end of the handout).
  

• Bank Account Transfer within the UAE (Custodian members): AED 25 per record - min. AED 150.
  
• Bank Account Transfer outside the UAE (Custodian members): AED 25 per record - min. AED 250.

• Daily Trade reports
• Movement report
• Top shareholder per symbol (the issuer chooses the number)
• Holder of certain percentage in the company
• Trade summary per client type and citizen category
• List of investors pledge account balance
• Rolled in - out investors by symbol
• New investors by symbol
• Stock adjustment by symbol (mostly requested by dual listed companies)
• Active investors by volume / value
• Sharebook
• Trade Details for a symbol
• Top 15 trades (buyers and sellers)

• Yes, you can by sending an official letter from the company or company registrar.
  
• Or by submitting the Changing/Adding Request Form filled and signed by the investor and verified by the issuer.
  

• The sharebook is linked with the trading and Dubai CSD systems, so whenever a trade is executed or a movement is approved, the balance is updated automatically. 
  
• This is the same when investors' data is updated by the Dubai CSD, such as contact details, this is immediately reflected on the sharebook. 
  

• Corporate Action fees
• Sending a Statement of Account
• Sending SMS messages 
  
• Electronic storage of reports 
  
• Electronic storage of the share register 
  
• Transfer from company account to employees account 
  

• In the case of a dividend distribution, you will receive the Sharebook and Pledged Shares Report. 
  
• In the case of a dividend and bonus shares distribution, you will receive two sharebooks, one before the bonus distribution to allow you to calculate the dividend before the bonus addition – Pledge Shares Report – and the second sharebook after with the Bonus Addition & Bonus Shares Report, which shows you the bonus added per IN. 
  
• In the case of a bonus shares distribution, split and conciliation, you will receive the Sharebook & Bonus Shares Report. 
  

• Transfer from a company to a board member
• Transfer between company’s board members
• Transfer of securities from a listed company’s account to employees

• Hard copy (printed)
• Soft copy (via email) 

If the shares were purchased for trading purpose then 2.5% of their market value is payable per annum (Hijri year) as Zakat. If, however, they were purchased with the aim of retaining them (as long-term investment) then the Zakat shall be the same over the net value of the zakatable assets, if this value was calculated and made available to shareholders by the company. Alternatively, shareholders can choose to annually pay 10% of their net profit, whether the profit was actually distributed or not.

Yes it is permitted provided the following Shari'a parameters are adhered to:

1. The Shari'a repugnant income is less than 10% of total revenue which is subject to purification by the shareholder.
   
2. The interest-based borrowing does not exceed 30% of total assets.
   
3. The interest-based lending does not exceed 30% of total assets.

It is not permissible to deal in preferred stocks, if preferred stockholders have a preferential right in terms of profit distribution prior to other shareholders or in terms of receiving their rights prior to other shareholders in case of liquidation. Whereas if the preference is related to administrative matters (like voting rights), then dealing is permitted.

Non-Shari'a compliant companies either have prohibited income exceeding 10% of the total income, or it lends or borrows with interest beyond 30% of the total assets. Trading in such companies is not permissible even if the Shari’a repugnant income is totally purified.

All development projects, including industrial, mining, extractive and infrastructural projects can be financed through Mudaraba, Musharaka and Istisna' Sukuk.

The advantages of financing through investment Sukuk are as follows:

1. It is a finance which is based on rights in ownership rather than the lending of money.
   
2. The Sukuk holders herein share the risks of the projects and also share the project proceeds with the Mudarib or the managing partner as per their agreement.
   
3. It does not require the taking of securities since the financiers own the project until the redemption or the maturity of the Sukuk.
   
4. The Mudarib or the managing partner may own the project before or at the end of the financing period.

Short sale is a sale of shares that the seller does not own. Where the seller borrows such shares to be returned later, for the purpose of making profit by selling it at a price that is higher than the price at which the seller will buy in the future and return to its lender (the owner).

It is valid to trade investment Sukuk which are used to finance projects so long as they represent tangible assets or usufructs as is the case with Mudaraba, Musharaka and investment Wakala Sukuk. This is because it is valid to sell the underlying assets of these Sukuk on any agreed price, spot or deferred, whereas the finance Sukuk, such as Murabaha and Istisna' Sukuk, and since they represent debt instruments and are normally of short maturity periods, these can be traded only at face-value and against a spot price.

The Maliki school, however, unlike the remaining Fiqh schools, allows upon the fulfillment of certain conditions the sale of the Salam asset before its delivery. Nevertheless, the Salam Sukuk holders or their representative still can sell, to a third-party through a parallel Salam, an asset similar in its specifications to the Salam asset. The delivery date in this case shall be later than the delivery date of the original Salam asset.

It is permitted to give, in the prospectus, the Sukuk originator the right to redeem the Sukuk before maturity and pay their value to their holders. This right shall be based on an undertaking given by the trustee who holds the Sukuk assets on behalf of their owners. 

It is valid to amend the duration and terms of the Mudaraba provided the amendment applies only to the remaining period, with no retroactive effect. Among the valid amendments are the profit distribution ratio and the incentive. Any amendment must, however, be mutually agreed upon between the two parties (the Sukuk manager and Sukuk holders or their representative).

The Sukuk manager is entitled to willingly waive part of his profit in the Mudaraba Sukuk, or any part of his commission in the Wakala Sukuk. Any waiver of this kind, however, does not bind him in any way to give up any other amounts in the future.

Yes, Shari’a compliant- shares may be bought and sold on the same day.

Subscription rights may not be traded in general, regardless of whether the company is Shari’a compliant or not.

The sale on the margin means that the broker lends the client an amount above the margin, i.e. the amount paid by the client, and the broker buys the shares on behalf of the client on condition that the client pays the loan amount within a specified period. If not, the broker is authorized by the client to sell the shares he bought at the market price if their price has reached the margin. From the selling price the broker recovers his debt and the balance, if any, is returned to the client. Shari’a permits the loan as long as it is free from explicit or hidden interest, and the commission taken by the broker in case of buying on the margin is considered hidden interest if it is above the commission normally charged for brokerage without lending. If the commission remains the same, then the transaction is valid because it involves no interest.

It is not permissible, since in this case the contract is considered void according to Shari’a in view of the initial agreement to pay interest. If, however, there is no agreement to pay interest, then the contract is permissible.

Yes, because protection of wealth is one of the major Shari’a objectives, and if the duty to protect wealth entails hedging, then hedging itself becomes a duty, because it is an established principle in the Shari’a that what is a prerequisite to a duty becomes a duty itself.

Capital protection is to seek to protect it from loss without guaranteeing to pay it back, a pursuit which may not deliver the desired results: for example, guarding an asset; despite its protection it may be stolen or impaired.

Guaranteeing the capital on the other hand is to bear the losses, if any, instead of having them borne by the guarantee seeker. It relates to the outcome without considering the reasons or monitoring the feasibility of the means and methods taken by the guarantor or the guarantee seeker.

The DFM Shari’a Index (DFMSI) aims to replicate the performance of the Dubai Financial Market Shari’a-compliant listed companies. The importance of the DFMSI stems from the following:

1. Strengthening the numerous successes of the initiative of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to position Dubai as the capital of Islamic economy globally.
2. Facilitating investors and mutual funds interested in trading in Shari’a-compliant companies in tracking the performance of these companies.
3. Attracting Islamic financial investments to the market by highlighting the available investments that are not based on interest or forbidden activities.
4. Providing historical data on the performance of Shari’a-compliant companies
5. Ease of comparing the performance of Shari’a compliant companies with the performance of traditional companies and with the performance of Shari’a compliant companies in other markets.

All classes of Shari’a-compliant ordinary shares listed on DFM are eligible for inclusion in the DFMSI.

Investors and mutual funds interested in trading in Shari’a-compliant companies listed on the DFM, data providers, market participants including listed companies

No. The DFMSI is reviewed on a quarterly basis based on the statistical Classification of listed companies on the Dubai Financial Market in terms of compliance with Shari’a rules. This review focuses on continuing eligibility and changes to free float for index constituents.

No. The DFMSI showcases the best performing Shari’a compliant companies on the DFM.

As part of Dubai Clear’s deployment of its “Delivery Versus Payment” (DVP) settlement mechanism, the Dubai Clear addressed the need to operate dual accounts to mitigate unlimited access by local Clearing Members to the trading accounts.

To achieve full control by local Settlement Agents over client accounts, Dubai Clear is implementing processes to provide local Settlement Agents the ability to reject buy and / or sell trades for settlement if matched settlement confirmations are not received from clients.

The Dubai Clear changes are summarized as follows:

1. These enhancements impact Clearing Members dealing with clients which use a Local Settlement Agent for the settlement of trades, whereby a Local Settlement Agent can reject both securities and cash settlement of purchase and sell trades if it does not receive settlement instructions from its clients.
2. A ‘buy-in’ mechanism to facilitate settlement of rejected sell trades is also introduced whereby Clearing Members which do not trade for clients who settle trades using a Local Settlement Agent will be able to participate in a buy-in, by selling to any buy-in bids in the DFM buy-in board.
3. A Late Confirmation period of up to T+4 will be introduced for Local Settlement Agents clients to confirm settlement of trades. The Late Confirmation period is however subject to the Clearing Members agreement.
4. A Local Settlement Agent will now have full control of securities making it unnecessary to operate a dual account structure. This means that all securities may be held in one account of the Local Settlement Agents (i.e. the Agent Trading account). 

The enhanced DVP processes are only applicable to clients using a Local Settlement Agent for settlement and not to retail investors settling trades using their direct accounts with Local Clearing Members.

Any investor using a Local Settlement Agent to settle their trades executed through a Local Clearing Member will be impacted by the changes.

No. There are no changes to the way trading on the normal Dubai Clear is conducted. There is an alternative option for investors to sell securities via the Dubai Clear buy-in board. Investors will need to inform their Local Clearing Member if they intend to sell securities via the buy-in board.

No, the enhanced processes merely allow clients using Local Settlement Agents for settlement more time to provide settlement instructions to the Local Settlement Agent. This Late Confirmation Period is subject to agreement by the executing Clearing Member and is subject to penalties.

The Late Confirmation Period is from T+2 to T+4 or S+2. The Late Confirmation Period is a market infrastructure provided by the Dubai Clear to facilitate trade settlement for clients using a Local Settlement Agent for the settlement of trades. It is a commercial decision of the Local Clearing Member to determine whether or not a Late Confirmation Period should be offered to its client using a Local Settlement Agent for settlement.

Yes. A Local Settlement Agent can reject purchase / sell trades if no matched settlement instructions are received from clients.

When a Local Settlement Agent rejects a purchase trade, the buying Clearing Member will pay Dubai Clear the cash settlement obligations and Dubai Clear will credit the purchased securities to the designated rejection account under the control of the Local Clearing Member.

Yes. However, the ‘Late Confirmation Window’ for purchase trades is subject to the client / Clearing Member agreement on due dates for late payments. The proposed ‘Late Confirmation Window’ for purchase trades is merely a facility provided by the Clearing Member to facilitate any subsequent transfers arising from a settlement agreement between the client and the Clearing Member.

Clients may utilize a ‘Late Confirmation Window’ within which instructions may be provided for settlement of a rejected purchase / sell trade subject to late settlement agreement between the client and its Clearing Member. This Late Confirmation Window begins on T+2 and will end on T+4. The last settlement day of the Late Confirmation Period will be T+4.

Yes. Acceptance of the Late Confirmation by the Local Clearing Member is on a discretionary basis and provided that the rejected trades have not already been settled by the Local Clearing Member in the market either directly or via the buying in mechanism.

Yes. A client has the option to settle rejected purchase trades within the Late Confirmation Period, therefore beginning T+2 and ending on T+4, subject to agreement by the Local Clearing Member and provided the local Clearing Member has not sold the purchase securities.

The Local Settlement Agent will contact the Local Clearing Member to arrange for the transfer of securities back to the client’s Agent Trading account subject to payment by the Local Settlement Agent to the Local Clearing Member first.

If a client does not provide settlement instructions within the Late Confirmation deadline to settle the purchase trade, the Local Clearing Member will dispose of the securities underlying the rejected purchase trade latest by 2 market days after the end of the Late Confirmation Period.

Once a sell trade is rejected by the Local Settlement Agent, Dubai Clear will determine if the Local Clearing Member has sufficient balance of securities in the designated rejection account. If there is sufficient balance in this account, Dubai Clear will debit this account, settle the rejected sell trade and pay the Local Clearing Member the cash proceeds on T+2.

If the Local Clearing Member does not have sufficient balance in the designated rejection account, Dubai Clear will create a negative available balance under this account and will retain the cash proceeds until final resolution of the failed trade. Dubai Clear will retain the ‘Pending’ status flag on the securities held under the client’s Agent Trading account until final resolution of the failed trade. In order to rectify the negative available balance in the designated rejection account, the following 4 options are available:

1. Local Clearing Member buys securities directly in the Company for settlement before the last settlement day of the Late Confirmation Period
2. Late Confirmation Window can be utilized wherein client provides matched settlement instruction to Local Settlement Agent subject to agreement by the Local Clearing Member
3. The buy-in mechanism is utilized by the Clearing Member / DFM, or
4. A mandatory cash closeout against the original seller if the above options are unsuccessful to resolve a sale rejection. 

Yes. The client can send settlement by providing matched settlement instructions within the Late Confirmation Period, therefore beginning T+2 and ending on T+4, provided the Local Clearing Member has not settled the sale rejection.

No penalties for any reversal of rejections executed by Dubai Clear on T+2.

Yes, a penalty will be applied for a minimum of AED 500 or the total order values of each sell rejection transaction X 0.05%.

Yes, a penalty will be applied for a minimum of AED 2500 or the total order values of each sell rejection transaction X 0.25%.

The Transfer Fees will be levied for two situations:

1. T+5 Transfer Fee: this Transfer Fee will be applicable where the Clearing Member failed to transfer the paid purchased securities from the Client Buy Rejection Account to the client’s Agent Account of a Settlement Agent by T+4 upon receiving payment from the client within the Late Confirmation Period of T+2 to T+4.
2. T+6 Transfer Fee: this Transfer Fee will be applicable where the Clearing Member failed to transfer unpaid purchased securities from the Client Buy Rejection Account to the Members’s Buy Rejection Sellout Account by the existing prescribed T+5 deadline.

A buy-in may be used only by a Selling Clearing Member when there is a negative balance in the designated rejection account.

The DVP (Delivery Versus Payment) procedures are meant to ensure that investors using the services of a Settlement Agent for safekeeping of securities and as agents for financial settlement who settle their trades based on DVP principles, whereby securities are delivered only if payment is received and there are matched settlement instructions received by the Settlement Agent to settle the trade.

No, if the Local Member does not trade for clients using Settlement Agent for settlement, the impact to the Local Trading Member will be limited to the new buy-in feature introduced by the Dubai Clear, where the Local Members can participate in a buy-in by placing offers to any buy-in bids under an open status. Only Local Members which trade for clients using a Local Settlement Agent for settlement will have to follow the DVP process.

The Clearing Member’s (CM's) Trading Member (TM) can increase his Trading Limit through the following options:

• Submit a new bank guarantee to the market including the amount of increase.
• The bank issuing the guarantee sends an official letter to Dubai Clear stating that they bear the responsibility for the increase in the bank guarantee limit, provided they undertake to pay entitlements due as a result of default by the CM’s Trading Member.
• Deposit an amount of money either cash or cheque in Dubai Clear's Account with: 

1. Emirates NBD, or
2. Standard Chartered Bank.

You then send a copy of the credit advice along with an official letter from the CM’s Trading Member requesting to increase the trading limit by email to clearing&settlement@dubaiclear.ae

• Submit an official letter to the Dubai Clear requesting to increase the Trading Limit by using the settlement due payments which are to be collected in the next settlement date (T+1). 
• Submit an official letter to the Dubai Clear requesting to freeze securities owned by the CM’s Trading Member or one of its owners. In this case, the Trading Limit will be increased by 50% of the securities current value in the Market. In case the CM’s Trading Member exceeded the original bank guarantee value, shares shall unfreeze on (T+2) only but if the CM’s Trading Member wishes to unfreeze the shares on (T+1), he should deposit in the Dubai Clear account the amount exceeding the original bank guarantee value.

The requirements are as follows:

• Minimum amount must be AED 20 million for the Trading Clearing Member (TCM).

• Clearing Members can split the guarantee between the Dubai Clear and ADX by submitting to each market a new bank guarantee and copy of the bank guarantee that is submitted to the other market including the other market receipt stamp, provided the amount of both guarantees is not less than AED 20 million with a minimum of 2 million AED per market.
• The Clearing Members must follow Dubai Clear’s Format for Bank Guarantee letters
• The Issuer bank must be licensed under the Central Bank of the UAE
• Submit the Original to the Dubai Clear via one of the following options.

The Clearing Member must coordinate with the Bank Guarantee issuing bank to send an official letter addressed to the Dubai Clear requesting Dubai Clear to issue a No Objection Letter for the reduction of the Bank Guarantee amount.

The Clearing Member must coordinate with the Issuer bank of the Bank Guarantee to send an official letter addressed to the Dubai Clear requesting Dubai Clear to cancel the requested bank guarantee.

If the Clearing Member desires to change settlement bank and deal with other Dubai Clear settlement banks, they must follow the steps below:

1. Send an official letter addressed to the Dubai Clear stating the following:
   • Settlement Account Number with the New Settlement Bank
   • Determine the date on which the settlement will commence with the New Settlement Bank
   • Undertake to pay all of its obligations with the Current Settlement Bank
2. Send a copy of the undertaking letter that is addressed to the New Settlement Bank (Stating the new settlement account in AED and USD).
3. Send a copy of the New Settlement Bank’s letter confirming the settlement account number and the Clearing Member name.
4. Send an undertaking letter addressed to Dubai Clear of not trading in dollars (in case the broker does not wish to open a dollar account). 

• directly with the DFM;
• through a DFM broker member;
• through a DFM custodian.

• Employee name in English according to the passport for system entry.
• Specify your request for one or both systems: X-Stream and / or Equator (AS400) 
• Attach the DFM accreditation letter with your request for username requests on the X-Stream system.
• Specify privileges for any username request on the Equator (AS400) system:
  • Query / Read Option
  • Post / Write Option
• Specify the required usernames on the X-Stream system:
  • Trader Username
  • Public Username
  • Internet Trading Username
  • Other (please specify)

1. SCA License: To be licensed by the Securities and Commodities Authority.
2. Bank Guarantee: Submission of unconditional bank guarantee, in favor of the Clearing House, for a minimum of AED 20,000,000 and payable upon request from one of the banks licensed in the UAE. The amount of such guarantee shall increase concurrently with the increase in the size of the Broker’s business, based on the decision by the Market Board of Directors.

Note: If the Broker has entered into more than one Market, it shall be possible for it to apportion its bank guarantee between the Markets in which it has entered, in such manner that the total portions of the guarantee is not less than AED 20,000,000.
3. Clearing, Settlement & Depository:
   • The Brokerage House has the option to select one of the settlement banks either Emirates NBD,or Dubai Bank or Standard Chartered Bank in order to open a settlement account to be used by the Clearing and Settlement Department in both UAE Dirhams (Compulsory) or US Dollars (Optional) currencies. Any member will not use US account must submit undertaking letter.
   • Provide an official authorization of an overdraft from the bank in case of any illegal actions.
   • Details of any legal rulings or cases against the broker in the past three years, which have not been settled to date.
4. Company Information:
   • Names of owners and percentage of ownership in the applicant company and in any company dealing in securities.
   • The Board of Directors resolution authorizing the signatories to sign documents addressed to the DFM, with samples of their signatures.
   • Details of the applicant trading activity, including average number and value of trades per day (if deemed necessary by the DFM).
   • Signed DFM acknowledgment and undertaking form.
   • Provide a list of brokerage house employees and their personal DFM account numbers (NINs).
   • Provide complete information on Order Management System.
5. IT Requirements:

   Communication Lines:	1 Mbps MPLS ports - Main and Backup to DFM main site 1 Mbps MPLS port - Zabeel DR-site.
   Hardware:	4 GB memory, dual processor and minimum speed of 3.0 GHz.
   PCs (X-Stream TWS)	Minimum 2GB RAM with minimum processor speed 3.2 GHz.
   Market Data Feed (MDF) Application ability:	Application's database should be able to handle at least 20 tickers / messages per second.


Please note that there are fees associated with the above. For further information, please contact Market Operations Department: mc@dfm.ae.

An exchange-traded fund (ETF) is an Investment fund traded on stock exchanges, much like stocks. An ETF holds assets such as stocks, commodities, or bonds, and trades close to its net asset value over the course of the trading day. Most ETFs track an index, such as a stock index or bond index.

ETFs traded like stocks, ETFs offer the advantage of being liquid. They can be bought or sold any time during trading hours. They can also be purchased on margin, ETFs have low management fees.

ETFs are more accessible to small investors because investors can buy individual shares of an ETF, while many mutual funds have minimum investments.

ETFs provide easier access to alternative investments, creating a broader range of investment opportunities. There are ETFs that invest in commodities and foreign exchanges, and offer the ability to invest extensively in foreign and emerging markets.

Diversified like a fund but trades like a stock.

Unlike a mutual fund that has its net-asset value (NAV) calculated at the end of each month, an ETF's price is calculated and changes throughout the day, fluctuating with supply and demand.

ETF Units trades like Shares.

Yes, you trade through your DFM licensed-broker.

ETFs settle in two working days (T+2)

Yes, you have to have a DFM NIN to invest in DFM-listed ETFs. 

No, there is no limit and maximum on the number of units that can be bought.

• Incentive to make profits with minimal amount of capital investment in the form of margin instead of full contract value. However, these instruments are subjected to higher risk as well.
• Provides liquidity, enables price discovery in the underlying market.

• Opening an account with one of the licensed Derivatives brokers. A list of brokers is available on the DFM website.
• Place an order with the broker to either buy or sell the equity Futures contract through the available channels (e.g. calling the Broker, internet trading or mobile trading).
• The trade will be placed on the Matching Engine and executed if a matching price is available. The trade value will be calculated as (No. of contracts * Contract size * price).
• The investor needs to deposit the minimum Initial Margin with the broker before executing any transaction.
• The trade will be registered for clearing and settlement with Dubai Clear.
• Any profit or loss made due to a change in the market price is settled on a daily basis as Variation Margin.
• Once a position is closed, any Initial Margins related to this position, after any profit or loss, will be released.
• For investors holding the contract to expiry, the contract will be automatically closed and settled by Dubai Clear with the final settlement price.

• Buys 1 contract of September 2020 XYZ Future contract at AED 2.0 (contract size of XYZ Future is 100) and pays an IM of AED20 (assuming the IM is AED 20 for XYZ Future)

• September 2020 XYZ Future price has risen to AED 2.2
• Sells off the Future contract (close the position) at AED 2.2. The investor makes a profit of AED 20 (1*100*0.2)

• Sells 1 contract of September 2020 XYZ Future contract at AED 2. (contract size of XYZ Future is 100) and pays an IM of AED2 (assuming the IM is AED 20 for XYZ Future)

• September 2020 XYZ Future price has fallen to AED 1.8