Banking power of attorney
Power of Attorney for a Bank Account in the UAE
A power of attorney for bank account access in the UAE lets a person you name deal with a named account while you are somewhere else. We draft it, arrange the Arabic, and attend the notary public with you.
- Arabic and English drafting
- Every banking act named
- We attend the notary
A power of attorney to operate a bank account, in short
It is a written agency, ratified before a notary public, that lets a person you name deal with a named account on your behalf. It has to spell out each banking act you want covered, and your bank then applies its own acceptance rules on top of the notarised document.
Federal notary fee
AED 100 per party
Language of the deed
Arabic, with certified legal translation
Wording needed
A special agency naming each act
What a power of attorney for bank account operation covers
People ask for this document for a short list of reasons. You are posted abroad and the account still has to run. You are leaving the UAE and the account has to be closed properly. A cheque book is sitting at a branch. A standing instruction needs changing. A loan or a credit card has to be settled and the clearance letter collected before you go.
Our part is the drafting, the Arabic, the checking and the attendance. The ratification itself happens before a notary public. The account belongs to the bank’s books, so the bank decides what it will act on, and we check with the bank before we draft. That is what saves a second trip.
What the agent can be given power to do
Each of these is a separate act, and each one has to be written into the document by name. A text that only says the agent may deal with your banking affairs is read narrowly, and it can leave the agent able to ask for a statement and very little else.
Running the account from abroad
Deposits, withdrawals and transfers on a named account while you are outside the country, so salary, rent and school fees keep moving without you signing each time.
Closing the account when you leave
Closing a named account, receiving the final balance and collecting the bank’s closing confirmation. Write in what should happen to the money, and to whom it goes.
Cheque books and cheques
Requesting a cheque book, collecting it from the branch, and signing cheques drawn on the account. Cheque signing is a heavy power, so give it deliberately or not at all.
Standing instructions and scheduled payments
Setting up a standing instruction, changing the amount or the date, and cancelling one that is still running against an account you no longer use.
Loan and credit card settlement
Asking for the settlement figure, paying off the outstanding balance, and collecting the clearance letter once the facility is closed and the card is cancelled.
Statements, letters and correspondence
Requesting statements, balance certificates and liability letters, and receiving the bank’s letters for you. This is the lightest of the powers and the one asked for most.
The wording rule in UAE law
The current Civil Transactions Law is Federal Decree-Law 25/2025. The 1985 Civil Code is repealed, so the Article 955 citation still sitting on many sites points at a law that no longer exists. Agency now runs from Article 866 to Article 903. Article 871 says an agency written in general terms grants acts of management only. Article 870 is the one that decides a banking document.
Federal Decree-Law 25/2025, Article 870(1)
Any act that is not an act of management and preservation requires a special agency specifying the type of act and the dispositions it entails, particularly in donations, sale, settlement, mortgage, acknowledgment, arbitration, administering and accepting an oath, and pleading before the court.
Why a bank can still say no
A notary ratifies the signature and the capacity of the person signing. That does not bind the bank. Every bank applies its own acceptance rules on top of the notarised document, and some want their own mandate form signed as well, so a document that is perfectly valid in law can still be turned away at the counter.
- The wording is general, so the act the agent came in for is not named
- The document has an end date written into it and that date has passed
- The bank wants its own mandate form signed as well, and it has not been
- We ask the bank what it accepts before a word is drafted
- We name each act, the account and the branch inside the text
- We build the bank’s own form into the plan instead of meeting it later
A personal account and a company account are not the same job
The document you need depends on who owns the account. A personal account is yours to delegate. A company account belongs to the company, so the authority has to come from the company in the way its own documents allow. MOFAIC attests an individual document for AED 150 and a commercial one for AED 2,000.
Personal
An account in your own name
You are the principal, you name the agent, and the text follows the acts you want done. Your passport or Emirates ID and the agent’s identity details are the core of it.
Company
An account held by a company
The authority runs from the company, signed by whoever the company’s own documents say may sign. A company can name an accountant or an office manager rather than an owner.
What the text should say, act by act
This is the part that decides whether the document works at the branch. Name the account and the branch, then name every act, because a power to deal with banking matters in general is not a power to close an account, sign a cheque or settle a card.
- Operating a named account, including deposits, withdrawals and transfers
- Requesting and collecting a cheque book, and signing cheques drawn on the account
- Setting up, changing and cancelling standing instructions and scheduled payments
- Settling a loan or a credit card and collecting the clearance letter
- Closing the account and receiving the closing balance
- Signing the bank’s own account and mandate forms, and requesting statements and liability letters
What we need from you
The identity requirement is short. A notary verifies identity from an ID card, a passport or another official document issued by the State, and the Dubai Courts service takes the agent’s Emirates ID number or a copy of the Emirates ID or passport. The banking detail is what we add on top of that.
From you, the principal
The person giving the power
- Passport copy, and Emirates ID if you hold one
- The account number and the branch that holds it
- The acts you want covered, written out plainly
- The date the authority should end, if you want one
About the agent
The person you are naming
- Full name spelled as it is in the passport
- Emirates ID number, or a copy of the Emirates ID or passport
- Whether the agent can attend the bank in person if asked
- A second name, if you want a fallback agent
If you are signing abroad
The legalisation chain, not an apostille
- Signed before a notary in the country you are in
- Attested by that country’s ministry of foreign affairs
- Attested by the UAE embassy or consulate in that country
- Attested by MOFAIC in the UAE, AED 150 for individual documents
How we handle it
Four steps, in this order, because the order is what keeps the document from failing. The check with the bank comes first, since it is the bank that decides what it will act on, and redrafting after a refusal costs more time than asking the question in advance did.
1
We ask the bank first
We find out what that bank accepts for the act you need, and whether it wants its own mandate form signed alongside the notarised document. The answer shapes the drafting.
2
We draft the wording
The text is drafted in Arabic with the English alongside it, and every act is named. A foreign language document needs a translation by a legal translator registered with the Ministry of Justice.
3
Ratification before a notary public
You sign before a notary public, who verifies identity and capacity and reads the content out. We attend with you. If you are outside the country, the consular chain replaces the visit.
4
We take it to the bank
We hand the document over with the bank’s own form where one is needed, and we deal with the questions that come back. If something is missing, we fix the text and go again.
Frequently asked questions
The questions we are asked most often on this one.
Can my agent open a new bank account for me?
Opening an account is the bank’s decision, not the notary’s. Each bank sets its own rules on who may open an account, and on whether an agent may do it at all. A ratified document does not oblige a bank to accept it. We ask the bank the question before drafting, so you know the answer first.
Can someone close my UAE account after I have left the country?
Yes, if the document names closing the account, receiving the balance, and where the money is to go. Say which account and which branch. The bank still applies its own acceptance rules on top, and it may want its own closure form signed, which is why the check with the bank matters here.
Does a general power of attorney cover my bank account?
Usually not in the way people expect. Article 871 of Federal Decree-Law 25/2025 says an agency written in general terms grants acts of management only. Article 870 requires a special agency naming the type of act for anything beyond management and preservation. Banking acts have to be named one by one.
How long does a banking power of attorney last?
There is no general statutory validity period in UAE law. Under Article 897 an agency ends when the work entrusted to the agent is completed, when the term specified in it expires, or on the death or loss of capacity of either party. If you want it to end on a date, write that date in.
I am outside the UAE. How do I make one?
Sign before a notary in the country you are in, then have it attested by that country’s ministry of foreign affairs, then by the UAE embassy or consulate there, then by MOFAIC in the UAE. The UAE is not a party to the Apostille Convention, so an apostille does not replace that chain.
What does the notary charge for a banking power of attorney?
Under the federal schedule in Cabinet Resolution 19/2024, executing or notarising a general or special power of attorney is AED 100 per party to it, and notarising a translation included in the instrument is AED 50 per page. A private notary adds 30 percent as professional fees. Dubai Courts runs its own schedule.
Can I cancel it once the bank holds a copy?
Article 898 of Federal Decree-Law 25/2025 lets the principal revoke or restrict the agent’s authority at any time, unless a third party’s right is involved or the agency was issued in the agent’s own interest. Revoke it before a notary, and tell the bank in writing, because a bank acts on what it holds.
Do you notarise the document yourselves?
No. The deed is ratified before a notary public. Our lawyers and legal consultants draft the text, handle the Arabic, check the wording against what the bank will accept, and attend with you. The ratification is done by a notary public, who verifies identity and capacity and reads the content out before it is signed.
Start here
Tell us what the account needs to do
Send us the account details, the name of the person you want to appoint, and the list of things that have to happen. We will check the position with the bank, draft the wording around those acts, arrange the Arabic, and go to the notary public with you. If the bank asks for its own form, that goes into the plan from the start.
Tell us what the document has to do
Say who will receive it and what you need it to allow, and you will get a straight answer on the wording, the government fees and what to bring. You can also send it through the contact form.
Call us
Speak to the person who will handle your file and get an answer on the same call.
Send photographs of your passport, your Emirates ID and anything the matter attaches to.
Best for a company matter, or anything that runs to several documents.
Visit the office
Jebel Ali area, Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai. Come in, or have it handled remotely and only turn up to sign.
Opening hours. Monday to Thursday, 9:00 to 18:00. Friday, 9:00 to 12:00. Saturday, 9:00 to 18:00. Sunday, closed.