How to invest in the UAE stock market: DFM, ADX and your investor number

To invest in the UAE stock market you need an investor number for the exchange and a trading account with a licensed broker. DFM’s number, the NIN, is free, can be issued immediately and is open to investors of any nationality, including non-residents; ADX issues its own through its app, brokers, branches or TAMM. Trades settle two business days later, and the Capital Market Authority regulates both markets.

Key takeaways

• The UAE has two stock exchanges, Dubai Financial Market (DFM) and Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), both regulated by the federal Capital Market Authority.
• Each exchange issues its own investor number; DFM's NIN is free, can be issued immediately and is open to investors of any nationality in any country.
• Orders go through a broker licensed on the exchange, and on both exchanges continuous trading runs from 10:00 to 14:45 UAE time.
• Shares and cash settle two business days after the trade (T+2).
• The UAE levies no personal income tax, and an individual's personal investment income is outside corporate tax; home-country tax may still apply.

On this page 11 sections

The UAE stock exchanges and their regulator

Yes, the UAE has a stock market: two exchanges, Dubai Financial Market (DFM) and Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), both supervised by the federal Capital Market Authority (CMA).

DFM and Nasdaq Dubai

DFM’s depository, the Dubai Central Securities Depository (Dubai CSD), records each investor’s holdings under an investor number called the NIN. The same NIN is used for securities listed on Nasdaq Dubai, so both Dubai markets need one number, not two.

ADX

In UAE investing, ADX means Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange. Besides equities, grouped into sectors such as financials, real estate, energy and utilities, it lists exchange-traded funds. It also offers a listing platform for fixed income securities, which, ADX says, professional investors trade over the counter.

Who regulates the market

Federal regulator of the UAE markets

Capital Market Authority (formerly SCA), from 1 January 2026

Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2025 and Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2025, which entered into effect on 1 January 2026, set the regulatory framework for the capital markets and renamed the Securities and Commodities Authority as the Capital Market Authority.

Pages written before 2026 still refer to the SCA, which is the same authority under its former name. The new decree-laws also regulate an Investor Protection Fund and a Settlement Guarantee Fund. The CMA publishes a list of the companies it has licensed, which can be filtered by financial activity.

Step 1: get an investor number

The first step on either exchange is an investor number, and DFM and ADX each issue their own: an investor who wants to trade on both needs two numbers.

Investor number

Investor number (NIN) required

To hold or trade shares listed on DFM, including subscribing to an IPO, an investor needs a DFM Investor Number (NIN) issued by Dubai CSD; ADX likewise requires an ADX investor number for all trading, clearing and settlement on ADX.

DFM investor number (NIN)

DFM investor number (NIN)

Any nationality; free; issued immediately

The Dubai Central Securities Depository is open to investors of any nationality based in any country; an individual or institution can apply for an Investor Number (NIN) to trade DFM and Nasdaq Dubai listed securities, the NIN is free of charge, can be issued immediately, does not need a personal visit (DFM App or iVestor App), and trading then requires an account with a brokerage firm licensed on the DFM.

Besides the two apps, DFM’s IPO guide lists eServices on the DFM website (for companies), the Dubai CSD desk on DFM’s trading floor and DFM’s licensed brokerage firms. A guardian applies for a child under 18. A representative can apply for someone else with a duly authenticated power of attorney; a power of attorney issued outside the UAE must be certified by the UAE embassy in that country or by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

A NIN on its own is enough to hold shares: DFM’s guide says shares allocated in an IPO are registered under the NIN even without a broker account, though selling them needs one.

ADX investor number

ADX investor number

Applicants over 18; Emirates ID, or passport and ID card for non-residents, plus an IBAN letter

ADX issues an investor number, needed for all trading, clearing and settlement on ADX, through the ADX mobile app with UAE Pass (for Emirates ID holders and non-Emirates ID holders), accredited brokerage firms, ADX branch customer service offices, or TAMM with an Emirates ID and UAE PASS; the applicant must be over 18, and an individual provides an original Emirates ID (UAE citizens and residents) or a passport and ID card (foreigners not resident in the UAE) plus an IBAN letter for a bank account solely in the applicant's name.

ADX’s conditions also say the applicant or their legal representative must be present in person when submitting the request or using the smart application; the page does not explain how that applies to the app. Documents issued outside the UAE must be notarised and authenticated by the UAE embassy in the issuing country, that country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Companies, investment portfolios and free zone entities have their own document lists on the same ADX page.

Step 2: open an account with a licensed broker

The investor number identifies the investor; a broker places the orders. Every purchase or sale goes through a brokerage firm licensed on the exchange, and the trading account is opened with that firm.

DFM’s How to Trade page describes three routes:

• DFM app: an Emirates ID or a passport is enough to apply, and the account is opened once the broker approves it.
• iVestor app: a trading account opened instantly with one of DFM’s partner brokers.
• A broker’s branch: with an Emirates ID, a passport, a family book (UAE nationals), a visa (UAE residents) and a bank account statement.

On ADX, the investor chooses a firm from ADX’s list of licensed brokerage firms and gives it the information it asks for. DFM notes that each broker offers different products and services and suggests contacting them before choosing. A firm’s licence can be checked on the CMA’s list of licensed companies. How money is paid in and taken out is agreed with the broker.

Step 3: place orders and know the trading hours

Orders are placed through the broker: in its app or online platform, in the iVestor app for DFM, or by asking the broker in person or by phone. DFM and ADX run the same main sessions, set out below in UAE time.

DFM trading hours

09:30 to 15:00 (continuous trading 10:00 to 14:45)

DFM's trading hours are a pre-opening session from 09:30 to 10:00, the trading session from 10:00 to 14:45, a pre-closing session from 14:45 to 14:55 and trading at last price from 14:55 to 15:00 (UAE time).

ADX trading hours

09:30 to 15:00 (continuous trading 10:00 to 14:45)

ADX's trading day has a pre-open auction from 09:30 to 10:00, continuous trading from 10:00 to 14:45, a pre-close auction from 14:45 to 14:55 and trading at last from 14:55 to 15:00, when the market closes; a buy-in session from 15:15 to 15:30 is an auction for trades that failed settlement because the seller did not deliver the securities.

ADX describes the pre-open and pre-close sessions as auctions in which orders can be entered, amended or cancelled.

Whether DFM or ADX is open on a given day is answered by the exchanges themselves. ADX’s FAQs give its trading days as Monday to Friday; DFM’s How to Trade page gives the session times but not the days. DFM publishes a settlement and trading calendar and ADX links an official calendar from its settlement page, so this guide keeps no list of dates. Live prices are on the exchanges’ websites and apps.

Settlement, dividends and your portfolio

A trade settles two business days after it is executed (T+2): on that day the buyer receives the shares and the seller the cash.

Settlement cycle

T+2

Trades on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange settle on a T+2 rolling cycle: cash and shares are exchanged two business days after the trade date, through First Abu Dhabi Bank as settlement bank, in AED unless stated otherwise.

DFM works on the same cycle. Dubai Clear’s settlement procedures (version 004, 21 May 2026) set settlement on the second business day after the trade and count as business days the weekdays other than Saturday and Sunday, excluding official holidays declared by the CMA and announced by Dubai Clear. ADX says settlement does not take place on public holidays declared by the UAE Government and the Central Bank.

Worked example

When a trade settles

The days are illustrations. Each weekday is a business day unless stated.

1. Shares bought on a Monday: T+1 is Tuesday and T+2 is Wednesday, when the shares and cash change hands.
2. Shares bought on a Thursday: T+1 is Friday. Saturday and Sunday are not business days, so T+2 is the following Monday.
3. Shares bought on a Monday when Tuesday is an official holiday: T+1 is Wednesday and T+2 is Thursday.

Settlement falls on the second business day after the trade, never on a weekend or official holiday.

Each company decides its own dividends: ADX says the board and the general assembly decide whether to pay, in shares, cash or both. For companies that pay through DFM, cash dividends go to the method the investor set up with DFM: the iVestor card (DFM’s prepaid card for receiving dividends) or a bank account. Holdings, transactions and statements can be viewed in the DFM app or the iVestor app.

Investing from abroad: India, Pakistan, the UK and elsewhere

Non-residents can invest in UAE shares. DFM’s depository is open to investors of any nationality based in any country, and ADX accepts a passport and ID card from foreigners who do not live in the UAE. What does not change is the broker: a firm licensed on the exchange has to agree to open the account. Applying from abroad can add paperwork: DFM requires a power of attorney issued outside the UAE to be certified, and ADX requires documents issued outside the UAE to be authenticated, as described in step 1.

The investor’s home country may limit investing abroad and may tax the dividends and gains. Those rules belong to each country, and this guide does not cover them.

Dividends sent to a bank account outside the UAE follow DFM’s thresholds:

DFM dividends paid to a bank account

AED 4 per symbol (UAE bank account); AED 500 per symbol (international bank account)

DFM credits cash dividends to an investor's bank account only for companies that distribute dividends through DFM as paying agent and when the investor has chosen the bank account option; a dividend below AED 4 per symbol for a local bank account (except Emirates NBD and Emirates Islamic) or below AED 500 per symbol for an international bank account is not transferred to the bank account and is credited to the iVestor card instead, and a charge for each dividend transfer per company is deducted from the dividend.

Worked example

Two DFM dividends for an investor with a bank account abroad

The investor, companies and amounts are illustrations. Both companies pay dividends through DFM as paying agent, and the investor holds an iVestor card and has chosen the bank account option with a bank outside the UAE.

1. Company A pays the investor AED 350. That is below the AED 500 minimum for an international bank account, so DFM credits it to the iVestor card.
2. Company B pays AED 1,200. That is above AED 500, so it is transferred to the bank account, less the transfer charge, whose amount DFM’s FAQs do not state.
3. Before the charge, AED 1,200 is AED 1,200 ÷ 3.6725 = USD 326.75 at the dirham’s peg to the US dollar.

AED 350 goes to the iVestor card, and AED 1,200 less the transfer charge goes to the bank account.

Foreign ownership limits

There can be a cap on foreign ownership, and it is set company by company, not for the whole market.

Foreign ownership of listed companies

Set by each listed company (up to 100% in some)

Foreigners can own shares in companies listed on ADX, up to 100% of the shares in some, but each listed company's policies and Memorandum of Association decide its ownership limit for foreigners.

DFM publishes the limits for every DFM-listed security on its Foreign Ownership page. It splits investors into three groups: nationals of the security’s country of origin, nationals of the other GCC states, and foreigners, meaning all other nationalities. For each group it shows three figures:

The figures change with trading and with events such as inheritance transfers, changes in an investor’s nationality, new shares issued to a strategic investor and bonds converted into shares.

Tax on shares and dividends

An individual investing their own money in UAE shares pays no UAE income tax on dividends or gains, and personal investment income is outside corporate tax.

Personal income tax

No personal income tax

The UAE does not levy income tax on individuals; it levies 5% VAT, excise tax on specified goods and corporate tax on the net income of corporations and other entities from their business.

Corporate tax reaches individuals only through business activities. The Ministry of Finance says personal income from employment, investments and real estate that needs no licence is not subject to corporate tax:

Individuals and corporate tax

AED 1,000,000 turnover per calendar year

An individual carrying on a Business or Business Activity in the UAE is subject to Corporate Tax and must register only if the combined turnover of those activities exceeds AED 1 million in a calendar year; salary, personal investment income and unlicensed real estate income are out of scope.

Shares held through a company are a corporate tax matter instead, starting with the corporate tax rate. VAT may apply to the fees a broker charges; which financial services are exempt is explained in VAT rates, zero-rated and exempt supplies.

Tax may still be due in the investor’s country of tax residence, under that country’s rules. UAE residents who need to show their UAE tax residence abroad can apply for a tax residency certificate. This section is general information, not tax advice.

Risks and what this guide does not cover

Share prices can fall as well as rise, and an investor can lose part or all of the money invested. ADX’s FAQs name market risk, from economic conditions, interest rates and investor sentiment, and risks specific to each company, such as business performance, management issues and regulatory changes.

ADX settles trades in dirhams unless it specifies another currency. For a holding priced in dirhams, the rate against the US dollar is fixed:

Dirham to US dollar

USD 1 = AED 3.6725

The UAE dirham is pegged to the US dollar at USD 1 = AED 3.6725; the CBUAE's published USD rate was 3.6725 on its exchange rates page last updated 20 October 2026.

A holding worth AED 10,000 is therefore worth AED 10,000 ÷ 3.6725 = USD 2,722.94. An investor whose home currency is the rupee, the pound or another currency still carries that currency’s movements against the dollar. How the peg works is explained in the dirham’s peg to the US dollar.

This guide does not recommend shares, rank brokers or give prices, index levels or past performance. Government debt is covered in treasury bonds and sukuk, residence routes with their own conditions in golden visa routes for investors, and the other topics in Investing and residency guides.