Compliance & Disclosures
This page sets out how Wealth Castle approaches the regulatory environment within which we operate, what we are and are not licensed to do, and the procedures we apply to every engagement. Compliance is a binding constraint on what we offer rather than a marketing claim. Where we make a statement here, we mean it; where we cannot, we say so.
1.Legal entity and licensing
We trade as WEALTH CASTLE – FZCO, a Free Zone Company licensed by the International Free Zone Authority (IFZA), Dubai. Our registered office is Building A1, Dubai Digital Park, IFZA Properties, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Our UAE Tax Registration Number is 104243824000003. We are registered with the UAE Ministry of Economy as a Designated Non-Financial Business or Profession (DNFBP) and are subject to its supervisory regime under UAE Federal Decree-Law No. 20 of 2018.
2.What we are
Wealth Castle is a corporate-services practice. We design and orchestrate the structures — corporate, residency, tax, and succession — through which families and businesses establish themselves in the UAE. We work principally with the major Dubai-based licensing authorities and free zones (DET, DMCC, Meydan, IFZA, DIFC, JAFZA, Dubai South), the Dubai Land Department for Property Golden Visas, the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) for residency matters, and the DIFC Wills and Foundations registries for succession structures. Where a client's structural need is genuinely better served from Abu Dhabi (ADGM) or another emirate, we say so and arrange it.
3.What we are not
We are deliberately specific about the boundaries of our role. We are not:
- A law firm. We do not give legal advice and we do not represent clients in contentious matters. Where legal advice is required, we coordinate with UAE law firms and pay them on your instruction.
- A tax advisor. We do not give tax advice. We work alongside UK, US, and other home-country tax advisors where the structural conversation has a tax dimension; we hold the thread between them and the UAE position but we do not give the underlying tax opinion.
- A regulated investment adviser. We do not advise on the buying, selling, or holding of securities, funds, or other financial instruments. We do not recommend investments. We do not solicit investments.
- A licensed real-estate broker. We do not market or sell property. We do, on a client's instruction, coordinate with RERA-registered brokers for Property Golden Visa transactions.
- A trust company. We do not act as professional trustee. We coordinate with DIFC-regulated trustees for Foundation Council work where the structural need is genuine.
If at any point a client's needs require disciplines that fall outside this scope, we say so at the first conversation and introduce the specialist counsel needed.
4.Anti-Money Laundering and Combatting Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT)
Every engagement is subject to a documented AML procedure that meets the requirements of UAE Federal Decree-Law No. 20 of 2018, Cabinet Decision No. 10 of 2019, and the goAML reporting framework operated by the UAE Financial Intelligence Unit.
4.1 Customer Due Diligence (CDD)
Before we accept an engagement we identify and verify:
- The natural person engaging us, and any natural person who controls or beneficially owns an entity on whose behalf they are engaging us
- Beneficial owners of any entity at the 25% threshold (or lower where control is established by other means), per Cabinet Decision No. 58 of 2020
- The purpose and intended nature of the engagement
- The source of the funds being introduced for the engagement
- The source of wealth of the principal, where the engagement materially involves the principal's wealth
We do not accept engagements where CDD cannot be completed satisfactorily.
4.2 Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD)
EDD is applied where the engagement involves a Politically Exposed Person (PEP), a country flagged as higher-risk by the UAE Central Bank or the FATF, a complex or unusual structure with no clear economic rationale, or any feature that elevates the inherent risk of the engagement. EDD requires senior-advisor sign-off before the engagement proceeds.
4.3 Ongoing monitoring
Active engagements are subject to periodic review at intervals proportionate to their risk rating (annually for standard-risk; six-monthly for higher-risk). Material changes to the client, the structure, or the beneficial ownership are documented and refreshed against current CDD information.
4.4 Suspicious Transaction Reports
Where, in the course of an engagement, we form a suspicion that funds are derived from criminal conduct or relate to terrorism financing, we file a Suspicious Transaction Report ("STR") through the goAML portal. UAE law obliges us to do so without informing the client (the "no tipping-off" rule). We document the reasoning behind every STR we file and retain that documentation for the statutory period.
5.Sanctions screening
Every prospective client and every beneficial owner of an engagement is screened against the following lists before we accept the engagement and on an ongoing basis throughout it:
- United Nations Security Council Consolidated Sanctions List
- UAE Local Terrorist List (LTL) maintained by the UAE Cabinet
- OFAC Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List, United States Treasury
- UK Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) Consolidated List
- European Union Consolidated Financial Sanctions List
- World Bank Sanctions List
- Politically Exposed Person (PEP) data, foreign and domestic
A confirmed match terminates the engagement and triggers an STR filing where the UAE LTL or UNSCR list is implicated. False positives are resolved by documented manual review.
6.Beneficial ownership disclosure
For every entity we incorporate or maintain on a client's behalf, we collect, verify, and retain the beneficial-ownership register required under Cabinet Decision No. 58 of 2020. We file the corresponding declarations with the relevant licensing authority within the statutory deadlines, and we refresh the register on every material change to the ownership or control of the entity.
7.Record-keeping and confidentiality
All client records (CDD documentation, engagement memoranda, correspondence, filings, invoices) are retained for the period required by UAE law — typically not less than 5 years from the closure of the engagement, and 7 years for VAT-relevant records. Records are encrypted at rest, accessed on a role-based need-to-know basis, and stored in jurisdictions with adequacy protections recognised by the UAE Data Office.
Confidentiality is a matter of practice principle. We do not publish client names, do not list testimonials by name, and do not discuss live or historical engagements with third parties absent your explicit written consent. Confidentiality survives the termination of the engagement.
8.Conflicts of interest
Before accepting an engagement, we screen for conflicts against our existing client base. Where a conflict is identified, we either decline the engagement, obtain informed written consent from all affected parties, or implement an information barrier where the structural need genuinely warrants it. We do not accept engagements where the conflict cannot be cleanly managed.
9.Complaints
If you believe Wealth Castle has acted in error, in breach of these disclosures, or contrary to your reasonable expectations, please write to our Compliance Officer at [email protected]. We acknowledge complaints within 5 business days and respond substantively within 30 days. Complaints that cannot be resolved internally may be escalated to the Ministry of Economy DNFBP supervisory department.
10.Updates to this disclosure
This page is reviewed annually and after any material change to the UAE regulatory framework that affects our operating procedures. The "last updated" date at the top of the page is authoritative.