In order to transfer the shares of a JAFZA offshore company, a no objection certificate (so-called NOC) issued by the Dubai Land Department was needed due to the offshore company being the owner of a property in Dubai. Generally, the fees payable for the issuance of such NOC amount to 4% of the property value. However, in this particular case, the current shareholders of the JAFZA offshore company and the ultimate beneficial owners of the new shareholder were identical. By providing the Dubai Land Department with comprehensive documentation proving these circumstances, we achieved a reduction of the transfer fees in favour of our clients to 0.125% of the property value, which corresponds to the fees charged in case of property gifting.
