Table of Contents
Frequently Asked Questions
What does this activity cover?
It covers furnishing physical or electronic marketplaces for the buying and selling of stocks, stock options, bonds, and commodity contracts.
Who uses the marketplace?
Brokers placing client orders, institutional investors, and listed companies raising capital all use the marketplace this activity provides.
Is this the same as broking trades for clients?
No. Buying and selling securities on behalf of clients as a broker falls under a separate activity. This activity furnishes the marketplace itself.
What instruments are traded on the marketplace?
Stocks, stock options, bonds, and commodity contracts are bought and sold on the marketplace this activity provides.
Does this include managing funds?
No. Fund management falls under a separate activity, as do activities auxiliary to insurance and pension funding. This activity furnishes the trading marketplace.
How to Start an Activities Auxiliary to Financial Service Activities Business with Meydan Free Zone
Stocks, bonds, and commodity contracts have to change hands somewhere. That somewhere is a marketplace, physical or electronic, where buyers and sellers meet and trades are matched, recorded, and settled. Running that marketplace is its own business, and it sits at the centre of a financial system.
Operating a financial marketplace means running the venue where stocks, bonds, and commodity contracts change hands, and the UAE's exchanges show the scale of it. The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange ended 2025 with a market capitalisation above USD 837 billion and annual trading value of AED 385 billion, according to ADX1.
The Dubai Financial Market closed the year with a market capitalisation of AED 992 billion and AED 174 billion traded, according to the Dubai Financial Market2.
For a marketplace operator, the model is simple: the more buyers and sellers a venue brings together, the more it trades and the more it is worth.
The UAE has two main exchanges where securities and commodity contracts change hands every trading day, and the volume going through them tells the real story.
Sources: Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (2026); Dubai Financial Market (2026).
Picture the systems behind a trading day. Orders to buy and sell stream in from brokers and institutions across the country. The marketplace matches them, records each trade, and routes it towards settlement. A surveillance team watches for irregularities while a listings team prepares a new company to join the market.
The operator earns from the activity its venue hosts, so the more trading it attracts, the stronger the business. In a market competing for capital, the venues that win are the ones that are trusted, liquid, and run without a hitch.
Whether it is a share, a bond, or a commodity contract, this activity provides the marketplace where buyers and sellers meet and trades get done.
Who is this for?
- Financial marketplace operators: Businesses furnishing venues or platforms for trading securities and commodity contracts.
- Electronic trading platform providers: Operators running electronic marketplaces that match buyers and sellers.
- Market infrastructure businesses: Firms supporting the orderly buying and selling of financial instruments.
Meydan Free Zone offers 100% foreign ownership, zero percent corporate tax on qualifying income, full profit repatriation, and a fully digital licensing process, providing a regulated and cost-efficient base from which to operate a financial marketplace business in a country building one of the region's most active capital markets.
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6610.00 - Activities auxiliary to financial service activities, except insurance and pension funding
Under this activity, your business is licensed to furnish physical or electronic marketplaces for the buying and selling of stocks, stock options, bonds, and commodity contracts.
A business in this activity furnishes the physical or electronic marketplace that lets others buy and sell financial instruments. The work centres on operating the venue, the platform, and the systems that bring buyers and sellers together and facilitate trades in stocks, stock options, bonds, and commodity contracts.
The users are mixed: brokers placing client orders, institutional investors, and listed companies raising capital. It is an infrastructure business: the operator is paid to run a fair, orderly, and reliable marketplace where trades can happen with confidence.
The activity is specifically for furnishing the marketplace itself. Buying and selling securities on behalf of clients as a broker (6612) falls under a separate activity, as do other auxiliary financial activities (6619), fund management (6630), and activities auxiliary to insurance and pension funding.
The line is precise. If your business furnishes the marketplace where stocks, bonds, and commodity contracts are bought and sold, you are in.
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Third-Party Approval: No third-party approval is required for this business activity.
Anti-Money Laundering Compliance: This business activity is subject to AML compliance requirements.
Citations
1 Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange. ADX Full-Year 2025 Market Performance. Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, 2026.
2 Dubai Financial Market. DFM Full-Year 2025 Performance. Dubai Financial Market, 2026.
