Share purchase power of attorney
Share purchase power of attorney to buy into a UAE company
A share purchase power of attorney lets a person you name buy shares in a UAE company for you and pay for them. Our lawyers draft it, arrange the Arabic and attend the notary public, who performs the ratification.
- Purchase named, not implied
- Payment authority written in
- Arabic drafting and translation
Buying shares through an agent, at a glance
A share purchase power of attorney is a special agency, ratified before a notary public, that names buying shares in a stated company as the act your agent may do, and names the payment that goes with it. General wording will not carry it, because under UAE law an agency written in general terms grants acts of management only.
Authority needed
A special agency naming purchase
Federal schedule fee
AED 100 per party
Deed language
Arabic, translated by a legal translator
Why buying is not simply the mirror of selling
Article 870(1) of Federal Decree-Law 25/2025 lists the acts needing a special agency, and it names sale. It does not name purchase. The list is introduced with the word particularly, so it gives examples, not a closed set. A buyer is therefore judged by the general test in the same sentence: is buying and paying for shares management and preservation, or a disposition? Committing your money to acquire an asset is not preserving what you hold, so it needs naming.
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.
What a share purchase power of attorney actually does
People ask for this when the buyer cannot be in the room. You are buying into a company here while you are working abroad. You are an investor putting money into a business run by people you trust. You are taking over a partner’s holding and you will be travelling when the papers are ready. In each case somebody has to sign, and somebody has to pay.
Article 871 says an agency written in general terms grants acts of management only, so a wide text that speaks of handling your affairs will not reach a purchase. Our lawyers and legal consultants draft the text, prepare the Arabic and attend with you. The ratification is carried out before a notary public. The ratification is done by a notary public, and whoever receives the finished deed applies its own requirements on top.
Paying is a separate power from signing
A seller’s agent hands over an asset and takes money in. A buyer’s agent does the opposite, and that means the text has to authorise the outgoings as clearly as it authorises the signature. Name each of these, or leave it out deliberately.
- The shares being bought, named by company and by the holding you are acquiring.
- A price, or a ceiling the agent may not go above without coming back to you.
- Authority to pay the price, and the account or source the money comes from.
- Authority to pay a deposit or a part payment, and what happens to it if the deal stops.
- Authority to take a receipt or a discharge for every amount paid.
- Authority to sign the purchase and transfer papers, stated separately from the payment.
Naming the act, and putting a condition on it
Article 869 allows an agency to be general, special, conditional, or deferred to a future time. A buyer usually wants the second, and often wants the third as well, because it keeps the agent from acting until you are satisfied.
Special agency
A special agency that names the purchase
It states that the agent may buy a named holding in a named company and may pay for it. This is the minimum a buyer’s text has to do.
Conditional agency
A conditional agency that waits for your word
The same authority, written so it only takes effect when a condition you set is met, such as your written confirmation of the price. Article 869 allows an agency to be conditional.
From your instructions to a ratified deed
This is what our lawyers do, in the order it happens. The ratification itself is a notary public’s act, and we are there with you for it rather than doing it.
1
We ask what you are buying and for how much
The company, the holding, the price or the ceiling, and who is paying. If any of that is still open, we write a condition into the text instead of guessing at it.
2
We draft the act and the payment authority
Purchase named, payment named, receipt named, signature named. Each one is written as its own act, because Article 870 asks for the type of act and the dispositions it entails.
3
We prepare the Arabic
Instruments are in Arabic. A foreign language version needs a translation by a legal translator registered with the Ministry of Justice, and both versions are signed by the parties.
4
We attend the ratification with you
The notary public checks identity, capacity and consent, and reads the content out to the parties. We are there to answer on the wording, not to perform the notarial act.
Papers we need before drafting begins
Identity is what the notary public verifies, from an ID card, a passport or another official document issued by the State. The rest is what lets us name the act accurately. Whoever the finished deed is handed to sets its own requirements on top.
From you, the buyer
The principal signing the deed
- Emirates ID, or passport if you are not resident
- The full legal name you want on the deed
- Contact details for questions on the wording
- Written confirmation of the price or the ceiling
About the person you are naming
The agent who will sign and pay
- Emirates ID number, or a copy of the ID or passport
- Name spelt exactly as it appears on that document
- Whether the agent may appoint a substitute
- Whether the authority ends on completion or on a date
About the shares you are buying
Enough detail to name the act
- The company name as it is written on its papers
- The size of the holding you are acquiring
- The price, or the highest figure you will go to
- Where the payment is coming from
Drafting mistakes that stop a buyer’s deed working
The first list is what gets a buyer’s text sent back or read too narrowly. The second is what keeps a good text usable after it is signed. Both come up more often than the drafting itself.
- Relying on general wording, which Article 871 limits to acts of management.
- Naming the signature but not the payment, so the agent can sign and not pay.
- Citing Article 955 of the repealed 1985 Civil Code, which no longer exists.
- Write a term in. Article 897 ends an agency when its term expires or the work is done.
- Article 898 lets you revoke or restrict, subject to third party and agent interests.
- Article 903 treats every sub-agency as revoked when the main agency is revoked.
Frequently asked questions
The questions we are asked most often on this one.
My existing general power of attorney is broad. Will it cover a share purchase?
No, not on its own. Article 871 says an agency expressed in general terms grants acts of management only, and buying shares with your money is not management. The text has to name the purchase and the payment as the acts the agent may perform. A broad document will usually be read far more narrowly than you expect.
Article 870 names sale but not purchase. Does that help a buyer?
It does not. The list is introduced with the word particularly, which makes it a set of examples rather than a closed list. So purchase is not excluded by being absent. It is caught by the general rule in the same sentence, which asks whether the act is management and preservation. Paying out money to acquire shares is not.
Does the document have to say how much my agent may pay?
It does not have to, but it should. A buyer’s authority runs to money leaving your account, so a price or a ceiling puts a limit on that. Article 869 also allows a conditional agency, so the authority can be written to take effect only once you confirm the figure in writing.
Which published fees apply to a share purchase power of attorney?
The federal schedule, Cabinet Resolution 19/2024, sets AED 100 per party for executing or notarising a general or special power of attorney, and AED 130 per party through a private notary, whose professional fees are added under the same resolution. It also sets AED 50 for each page of a translation included in the instrument. Dubai Courts sits outside that federal schedule under Dubai Law 4/2013.
Can I sign this abroad and have it used in the UAE?
Yes, through the attestation chain. The document is attested by the foreign ministry of the country it was issued in, then by the UAE embassy or consulate there, then by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here. The UAE is not a party to the Apostille Convention, so an apostille does not replace that chain.
What does attesting a commercial document cost at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?
The Ministry publishes AED 150 for individual affairs documents and AED 2,000 for commercial documents. A power of attorney of a commercial nature, and a general power of attorney, sit on the commercial list, so a share purchase document is likely to fall there. The Ministry decides which list a document belongs to.
How long does the authority last once it is signed?
There is no general statutory period in UAE law. Article 897 ends an agency when the work entrusted is completed, when the term written into it expires, or on the death or loss of capacity of either party. The two year figure that circulates is not general law. Legal commentary on Dubai Land Department Circular 29/R/2025 reports it as an acceptance rule for property dispositions, which is one authority and one class of transaction.
Can I stop the agent before the purchase goes through?
Article 898 lets a principal revoke or restrict the authority at any time, unless the agency involves a third party’s right or was issued in the agent’s interest. Article 899 makes a principal liable to compensate an agent for revoking at an inappropriate time or without acceptable justification. Article 903 revokes any sub-agency with it.
Start here
Tell us what you are buying
Send us the company name, the holding you are taking and the price or the ceiling you will work to. Our lawyers draft the act and the payment authority, prepare the Arabic with a legal translator, and attend the ratification before a notary public with you. If you are signing outside the UAE, tell us the country first, because the attestation chain changes the timing.
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.