Dubai Bank

Dubai Bank

Many local and international banks are represented in Dubai. International financial transfers are relatively simply and there are no exchange controls.

Opening Hours
Banking hours are from 8.00 am to 1.00 pm Saturday through Thursday.The various money exchange centers are open from 8.30 am to 1.00 pm and from 4.30 pm to 8.30 pm.

Open an Account
Individual
Opening a bank account in Dubai is very easy. Although requirements vary from bank to bank, a prospective individual account holder will usually be asked to produce a copy of his passport (including the residence visa page) and a letter of no-objection from his employer/sponsor to open a bank account.
Cheque books are not normally issued to non-UAE residents. However, most banks allow non-UAE residents to open saving accounts as opposed to current accounts on the recommendation of a current UAE resident account holder. The purpose of this is to enable the bank to maintain a contact for the non-resident in Dubai.

Corporate
A prospective company/corporate account holder wishing to open a bank account is normally required to produce the following: a valid trade license, a letter confirming its membership of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry, a board resolution authorizing the opening of the account, certified copies of the memorandum and articles of association, a list of directors and a registration certificate from the Ministry of Economy & Commerce.
One of the pre-requisites for establishing a limited liability company (LLC) is that its share capital must be at least AED. 300,000/- (in Dubai). In such cases, most banks will allow a prospective LLC to open a fixed deposit account on presentation of the above letter for the purpose of establishing to the DED that it has met the minimum capital requirement. It should be noted that to do so, most banks will require all the intended shareholders of the LLC or the authorized signatory of the company to sign the account opening forms at the bank itself.

Cheques
When an account has been opened and a cheque book obtained, the account holder should always bear in mind the following when operating the account.
It is a criminal offence to write a cheque if there are insufficient funds in the account to enable the bank to honor payment. The holder of a dishonored cheque is entitled to complain to the police. In the event of such a complaint, the drawer and /or the signatory of the cheque will be arrested.

If payment is subsequently not made, the matter will be referred to the Public Prosecutor. It is of course open to the Public Prosecutor to order that the drawer's and /or signatory's passport be attached or seized to prevent him from leaving the jurisdiction. Persons convicted of writing cheques which are subsequently dishonored are usually sent to prison.

It is not possible to cancel payment of a cheque unless (i) it has been lost or stolen or (ii) the bearer of the cheque has become bankrupt. Banks in Dubai will not refrain from honoring a cheque unless they are satisfied that one of these conditions exists.

In any event, there are provisions in the law which allow the bearer of a cheque to object to the cancel of payment. If such an objection is found to be valid, the bank will be required to honor the cheque.

The UAE Central Bank has ruled that if an account holder issues three or more cheques which are dishonored, he shall be prohibited from obtaining a cheque book and operating a cheque account.