Legal services
From day-to-day banking questions to complex transactions with international stakeholders.
We advise banks, finance companies, borrowers and investors on lending, security, Islamic finance, regulatory questions and disputes. Our work ranges from a single facility agreement to debt and equity transactions in the capital markets.
The UAE is the financial centre of the region, with onshore banks regulated by the Central Bank, the DIFC and ADGM hosting international institutions under their own regulators, and a growing market in Islamic finance, fintech and capital markets. Lending is governed by the Commercial Transactions Law, the Civil Code and Central Bank regulations, security by the Movable Assets Security Law and the property registration systems, and insolvency by the Bankruptcy Law of 2023. Each regime has its own documents, registrations and enforcement routes.
Khalifa Al Sada Advocates & Legal Consultants advises across the banking and finance sector, from routine banking issues to complex transactions with international stakeholders. We also advise and assist clients in debt and equity transactions in the capital markets.
We act for:
We act on both sides of the table, which gives us a clear view of what each party will accept.
On transactions we draft and negotiate facility agreements, syndicated and bilateral loans, security documents including mortgages, pledges, assignments and guarantees, and the Islamic finance structures of murabaha, ijara and sukuk. We handle registration of security with the Emirates Movable Collateral Registry, the Land Department and the company registries, and we deliver legal opinions on capacity and enforceability. We advise on Central Bank regulations, consumer protection standards, anti-money laundering obligations and the licensing of finance and payment businesses.
On disputes we represent lenders in the recovery of facilities, enforcement of guarantees and security, and the execution of judgments and bounced cheques, and we represent borrowers and guarantors defending claims, challenging interest and charges, and negotiating restructuring. We act in bankruptcy and preventive composition proceedings under the 2023 law, both for creditors seeking to protect their position and for debtors seeking protection. Our debt collection department handles the amicable stage of bank and finance recoveries.
Our lawyers understand how a facility agreement drafted in London reads in a Dubai courtroom, and how a UAE judge treats interest, compound interest and guarantees. That experience shapes both the documents we draft and the way we defend or enforce them.
We work in Arabic and English from Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and our team is regularly before the onshore courts, the DIFC Courts and the bankruptcy courts on finance matters.
We read the facility, security and correspondence and set out the rights, the exposures and the enforcement routes available.
We recommend a strategy, whether negotiation, restructuring, enforcement or defence, with the likely timing and cost.
We draft and register the documents, or file the claim, the execution or the bankruptcy application.
We close the transaction, or enforce the judgment against accounts, property and other assets.
Yes for commercial loans within the limits set by law and Central Bank rules. Courts reduce excessive rates, and compound interest is treated cautiously. Islamic finance uses profit rather than interest.
Yes, if the guarantee is valid and properly signed. There are defences relating to consent, scope, discharge and the notice given. We review the guarantee before any step.
It replaces the 2016 law with a new bankruptcy court, clearer preventive settlement and restructuring routes, and updated duties for directors. We advise creditors and debtors on how to use it.
A cheque returned unpaid can be enforced directly through the execution court as an executive instrument, without a full trial, subject to the debtor's right to object.
Insights
8 Jun 2026 6 min read
Since 2 January 2022 a cheque returned for insufficient funds is no longer a crime in itself. It is an executive instrument enforced directly by the execution court. Here is how the new system works, what still counts as an offence, and what each side should do.
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A practical checklist for UAE businesses: VAT registration thresholds, returns and records, the corporate tax that applies since 2023, free zone treatment and the penalties for getting it wrong.
Read moreConsultation
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