Methodology · United Arab Emirates

How the UAE tracker is built. Data is official and read from VARA on every build.

Sources

• VARA public register: every licence (59 active, read 22 Oct 2026), and each licensee's VARA page for address, website and licence condition. If a read fails, the last good copy is used.
• VARA regulatory notices: all 30 enforcement and warning notices, with date and title as published.
• ADGM FSRA Public Register: firms listed under the asset class “Virtual Assets” (the public list the official page loads), and each firm's register page for its regulated activities, dates and FSMR s.30(4)(a) stipulations. Addresses and approved persons are not stored.
• VARA releases for dates (2023 regulations, 2023 deadline), the SCA statement published by VARA, and the CBUAE Rulebook.

Source Hierarchy

1. official VARA, the SCA (as published by VARA), the CBUAE Rulebook.
2. company none used.
3. press · secondary none used.

Labels

• VARA licence (active): on the register with status Active.
• VARA enforcement or alert: a firm with no VARA licence named in a VARA notice. Only firms we track get a page; every notice is on the enforcement page.
• VARA approval revoked: FTX's Dubai company, per VARA's 2022 notice.
• Not on VARA register: a major firm with no company of that name or website on the register. If one appears, the build stops for review.
• Clients: from the licence condition. “May serve retail” means retail investors are named for at least one licensed activity.
• Main activity: exchange, else broker-dealer, else custody, else other.

Limits

• DIFC (DFSA) and SCA licences are not covered. ADGM (FSRA) firms in the Virtual Assets asset class are on the ADGM page; they do not change a firm's VARA status.
• The register shows active licences only; earlier MVP-phase licences and lapsed licences are not reconstructed.
• Fine amounts appear only where VARA published them.

Corrections

Write to press@vasptracker.com with the page and the source. Published corrections: none.