How to Start a Compliance Consultancy Business with Meydan Free Zone

A decade ago, a precious metals dealer or a real estate broker in the UAE had no formal anti-money laundering duties. Today every one of them has to screen customers, declare beneficial owners and file suspicious transaction reports.

That shift, from back-office afterthought to a layer nobody can skip, is what makes compliance consultancy worth doing here. This guide covers what activity code 6619.12 permits, who has to buy it, the rules driving the work, and how to set up.

Key Stats at a Glance

What This License Covers

Under code 6619.12 you are licensed to provide compliance consultancy: advising UAE financial institutions on AML and CFT framework design, supporting Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions with goAML registration and policy implementation, and guiding corporates on data protection, UBO, FATCA, CRS and tax compliance.

The boundaries are set. It excludes the activities of insurance agents and brokers, which sit under activities auxiliary to insurance and pension funding, and it excludes the management of investment funds, which falls under fund management. Put simply, advising on regulatory and governance frameworks is inside the code. Running the regulated service yourself is not.

Who Your Clients Will Be

Three groups, and they need different things from you.

• Financial institutions: banks, exchange houses, investment advisors, brokers and finance companies needing AML and CFT framework design, sanctions screening and regulator engagement
• DNFBPs: precious metals dealers, real estate brokers, auditors, corporate service providers and lawyers needing goAML registration, an appointed MLRO and workable AML policies
• Corporates: groups and holding companies needing UBO registration, data protection compliance, FATCA and CRS reporting, ESG frameworks and corporate tax work

The DNFBP segment is the interesting one for a new firm. These are businesses that were not regulated for AML purposes until relatively recently, so many of them have duties they do not yet have systems for. That is a large pool of clients who know they need help and do not have an incumbent adviser.

Mainland or Free Zone

Meydan Free Zone gives you full foreign ownership, no corporate tax on qualifying income and a licensing process that runs entirely online. For a consultancy whose product is advice and documentation, that covers what you need without tying up capital in premises.

A mainland license through the Department of Economy and Tourism makes more sense if your model depends on a visible local office. Either way, no third-party approval applies to this activity, which is unusual for anything touching financial regulation. Let your clients decide it, not the price.

[blockCTACostCalculator]

Step by Step Setup Guide

• Step 1, confirm your activity code: Check that 6619.12 sits on the approved list where you are applying and covers every service line you plan to sell.
• Step 2, define your scope carefully: Decide now whether you are advising only, or whether you also want a service that falls outside the code. Insurance broking and fund management need separate licenses.
• Step 3, book your trade name: Use the free company name check to confirm availability before you build a brand around it.
• Step 4, send in your setup documents: Passport copies for every shareholder and director, plus a No Objection Certificate if another employer sponsors your UAE visa.
• Step 5, collect your trade license: The Meydan Free Zone process is fully digital, so shareholders abroad can complete it without travelling.
• Step 6, open a bank account and process visas: Support services such as mResidency and mAccounting cover the residency and bookkeeping side.

No third-party approval is needed for this activity, which makes the licensing route shorter than most financial-sector work.

Compliance and What You Need in Place

Know the AML architecture

Cabinet Decision No. 10 of 2019 implements AML and CFT duties under Federal Decree-Law No. 20 of 2018. It calls for an appointed Money Laundering Reporting Officer, staff training and suspicious transaction reporting, across both regulated entities and the DNFBP categories. If you cannot explain that stack from memory, you are not ready to sell against it.

goAML

goAML is the mandatory reporting platform operated by the Financial Intelligence Unit, used by regulated entities and DNFBPs for suspicious transaction reports and AML registrations. Registering clients on it and keeping them compliant is a large part of the DNFBP work.

The multi-regulator picture

The UAE compliance perimeter spans several federal and emirate-level supervisors, including the Securities and Commodities Authority, the Central Bank of the UAE and the Ministry of Economy. Each has its own reporting expectations and its own enforcement rhythm, and knowing which one your client answers to is the first question on any engagement.

Data protection, UBO and tax

Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021 introduced data protection duties. Cabinet Decision No. 58 of 2020 created Ultimate Beneficial Ownership registration. UAE corporate tax took effect in June 2023. Each of these widened the advisory perimeter rather than replacing what came before, which is why the work compounds.

Stay on your side of the line

Keep clear separation between compliance consultancy and regulated services such as auditing and legal practice. Clients will ask you to cross that line. Do not, and say why.

Your own position

This activity is itself exempt from AML compliance duties, which is worth knowing but not worth advertising. Clients hire you for their duties, not yours.

Market Opportunity

The demand here is regulatory rather than cyclical. The Ministry of Economy supervises DNFBPs through the goAML platform with active enforcement against non-compliant entities, and enforcement is what turns a legal duty into a purchase order. Statista valued the UAE financial advisory market at USD 186.73 billion in 2025, growing at 2.19% a year through 2030.

What makes this durable is the layering. AML and CFT duties came first, then data protection, then UBO registration, then corporate tax. None of those replaced the last one. Every new regulation widens the perimeter you can advise on, so the addressable work grows with each policy cycle rather than rotating.

The commercial model follows from that: specialist regulatory expertise, technology partnerships for screening and compliance software, training and capacity building, and ongoing advisory retainers. Retainers are the goal, because a client who has to report every year needs you every year.

Conclusion

Compliance consultancy under code 6619.12 puts you in front of clients who have no choice about buying. The UAE's AML and CFT framework, its DNFBP supervision regime, a multi-regulator environment and rising enforcement all point the same way, and Meydan Free Zone gives you full ownership and a digital setup to work from.

Three things decide how smoothly this goes: real depth in at least one regulatory layer rather than broad familiarity with all of them, retainers rather than one-off projects, and a firm line between consultancy and regulated practice. Sort those and the rest is routine.

[blockCTAContact]

References

• UAE Ministry of Economy
• Statista, Financial Advisory United Arab Emirates
• Meydan Free Zone
• Free company name check