Recognizing new realities in decentralization, the regulations aim to provide market players with governance flexibility within distributed ledger technology foundations.

By Stuart Davis, Brian Meenagh, Andrew Moyle, and Ksenia Koroleva

On October 2, 2023, the Board of Directors of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), a financial free zone in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), enacted the Distributed Ledger Technology Foundations Regulations 2023 (Regulations). The Regulations were published on November 1, 2023.

Latham & Watkins has advised ADGM in drafting the Regulations. The Regulations were developed following extensive benchmarking across a number of peer jurisdictions and incorporate stakeholder feedback from ADGM’s April 2023 consultation paper. The adoption of the Regulations is part of the strategy to promote ADGM as a global center for digital assets.

The Regulations recognize the suitability of common law foundation structures for projects related to digital assets, and aim to allow maximum flexibility for the sector with respect to governance.

By Brian Meenagh, and Khaled Alhuneidi.

In June 2018, the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) unveiled a dedicated cryptoasset regulatory framework by way of various amendments to the FSRA’s core regulations – the Financial Services and Markets Regulation (FSMR) as well as supplementary guidance thereto.

In May 2019, the FSRA issued updated and greatly expanded guidance (FSRA Guidance) that includes a more granular level of detail and addresses a range of topics not covered in the initial guidance. We consider some of these topics below.

The Abu Dhabi Global Market’s Guidance clarifies and expands FSRA expectations for OCAB Framework license holders.

By Brian A. Meenagh

In June 2018, the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) unveiled a dedicated cryptoasset regulatory framework by way of various amendments to the FSRA’s core regulations — the Financial Services and Markets Regulation (FSMR), as well as supplementary guidance thereto.

In May 2019, the FSRA issued updated and greatly expanded guidance (FSRA Guidance) that includes a more granular level of detail and addresses a range of topics not covered in the initial guidance. This blog will consider some of these topics in more detail.