To buy a single share on the Dubai Financial Market or the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange you need two things: an investor number (NIN) issued by the exchange, and a trading account with a licensed broker. The exchanges do not charge individuals for the investor number, and the whole setup is normally done in one to two working days. The cost that actually matters comes later, at the point of trading, and it is not the same on both markets: on one published broker schedule the same trade costs 0.15% on ADX and 0.275% plus AED 10 on DFM.

This guide covers what an expat resident, and a non-resident, needs to open an investor number on each exchange, the documents that trip people up, how the trading cost breaks down between the broker and the market, the foreign ownership limits that can block a purchase outright, how dividends reach you, and what happens to a UAE share portfolio when you leave the country or die.

What You Need Before You Can Buy Anything

Three things, in this order: an investor number from the exchange you want to trade on, a trading account with a broker licensed by that exchange, and a UAE bank account held in your own name for dividends and settlement. The investor number is issued by the exchange, not the broker, and it stays with you even if you change brokers.

The investor number is the identity that the market’s clearing and settlement system recognizes. ADX describes it as the number through which “all transactions on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) can be initiated including clearing, settlement and trading transactions.” Shares are held against that number in the central securities depository, not inside your broker, which is why moving brokers does not mean moving your holdings.

The two exchanges are separate systems with separate investor numbers. An ADX number does not let you trade on DFM. If you want to hold stocks listed in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi, you apply twice.

How to Get an ADX Investor Number

ADX issues investor numbers through four channels: the ADX mobile app with UAE Pass, an accredited brokerage firm, an ADX customer service office, and the TAMM website or app using Emirates ID and UAE PASS. The applicant must be over 18, and ADX states that the applicant or a legal representative must be present in person when submitting the request.

ADX’s own service page is explicit that the mobile app route is open to both “Emirates ID card holders and non-Emirates ID holders”, which is the practical opening for non-residents who want exposure to Abu Dhabi listings without flying in. Note the tension in the published wording: the same page sets an in-person condition and then names a smart-application channel. Treat the app as the route to try first and the branch as the fallback if your file is referred.

Applicant Documents ADX requires
UAE citizen or resident Original Emirates ID card, plus an IBAN letter
Foreigner not residing in the UAE Passport and ID card, plus an IBAN letter
Every individual applicant IBAN letter showing the account is solely in the applicant’s name, not a joint account

The joint-account trap

The IBAN condition is the single most common reason a retail application is rejected. ADX requires the bank account to be in the applicant’s sole name, so a couple who bank jointly cannot use that account for either investor number. If your salary lands in a joint account, open a personal one first; our guide to opening a bank account in Dubai covers the salary-transfer and minimum-balance side, and non-residents should start with which UAE banks still open accounts for non-residents.

Attestation for documents issued abroad

ADX requires documents issued outside the UAE to be notarized and authenticated through three steps: the UAE Embassy in the issuing country, that country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs. That is the standard legalization chain, and it is slow. The mechanics are the same ones described in our guide to MOFA attestation in the UAE. A resident applying on an Emirates ID avoids this entirely, which is a real argument for opening the investor number while your residency is active rather than after you leave.

How to Get a DFM Investor Number

DFM issues its investor number through the DFM app, the iVestor app, a licensed DFM broker, or the exchange’s own service desk. DFM’s published fee list contains no charge to individual investors for issuing an investor number: the document covers brokerage membership, listing and system fees only.

DFM has folded account opening into its apps. Its published route is to download iVestor, open a trading account with one of the partnered brokers from inside the app, and trade from there, or to appoint a licensed broker directly and use that broker’s own platform. The exchange’s instruction on dividends makes the sequence explicit: “To receive your dividends, you must first obtain DFM Investor Number”, and the payment method is chosen during that registration.

What actually happens after you apply

The investor number is issued centrally, not by your broker, and it arrives as a short numeric identifier. Applications submitted through an app with a complete document set are typically processed within one to two working days rather than instantly, because the depository validates the identity and bank details before the number is activated. Until the number is live, a broker can open your account file but cannot execute an order against it.

Trading Hours and Placing the First Order

DFM publishes a four-stage session: pre-opening from 09:30 to 10:00, the main trading session from 10:00 to 14:45, pre-closing from 14:45 to 14:55, and a “trading at last” phase from 14:55 to 15:00. Orders entered in pre-opening are not executed immediately; they sit in the book until the opening auction resolves, which is why a market order placed at 09:40 can fill at a price you did not expect.

ADX describes the same three-step path: obtain the investor number, choose and appoint a licensed brokerage firm from its published list, then place orders through the broker’s website, the broker’s mobile app, or by contacting the broker face to face or by phone.

What It Actually Costs to Trade

Trading cost is split between a broker commission and a market commission, and the total differs by exchange. On the published schedule of one bank-owned UAE broker, the all-in commission is 0.15% of trade value on ADX, and 0.275% of trade value plus AED 10 per executed order on DFM and on Nasdaq Dubai.

Market Total commission on the executed order Cost on an AED 50,000 trade
ADX (Abu Dhabi) 0.15% of trade value AED 75.00
DFM (Dubai) 0.275% of trade value + AED 10 per executed order AED 147.50
Nasdaq Dubai (AED) 0.275% of trade value + AED 10 per executed order AED 147.50
Nasdaq Dubai (USD) 0.275% of trade value + USD 3 per executed order Equivalent of 0.275% + USD 3
US stocks and ETFs 0.23%, minimum USD 2 Equivalent of 0.23%

The figures above are one licensed broker’s published schedule, not a rate set by the regulator, and commissions are competitive between firms. What the schedule shows clearly is the shape of the cost: a Dubai trade carries roughly double the commission of an identical Abu Dhabi trade, and the gap is structural rather than a broker markup. On that schedule the broker’s own cut is the same 0.125% on both exchanges; the difference sits in the market commission, 0.025% on ADX against 0.15% on DFM, plus the per-order clearing charge that ADX does not levy.

Two practical consequences. A round trip on DFM at AED 50,000 costs about AED 295 in commission against about AED 150 on ADX, so an active trader pays for the venue choice, not just the stock choice. And because DFM adds a flat AED 10 per executed order, splitting one purchase into several small orders is more expensive than it looks: an order that fills across five executions carries five charges.

The discrepancy worth knowing about

ADX’s own published fee schedule sets the cash market trading commission at 0.020% of trade value. The broker schedule above bills a market commission of 0.025% on ADX trades. The two published numbers do not match, and neither document explains the difference. Read your own broker’s schedule as the operative one and ask them to itemize the market portion if the gap matters at your trade size.

Account fees around the trade

Commission is not the whole bill. The same broker’s schedule lists account opening at AED 200, an investor number service charge of AED 50, a portfolio statement at AED 50, a data amendment at AED 25, dormant account reactivation at AED 50, an audit confirmation letter at AED 200, and a family transfer at AED 100. A 5% VAT applies to these fees and to the order fee, broker commission and market commission, excluding the regulator’s portion. Margin accounts at that firm carry 10% annual interest.

Note the AED 50 “investor number” line. The exchanges do not charge individuals for issuing the number, but a broker can charge a service fee for obtaining it on your behalf. Applying through the exchange app directly avoids that. If you are comparing execution venues and app experience rather than exchange access, our comparison of trading platforms and investment apps in the UAE covers the retail options side by side.

Foreign Ownership Limits: The Constraint Nobody Warns You About

Every DFM-listed company sets a maximum percentage of its shares that foreigners may own. When a stock reaches that ceiling, further foreign buying is blocked until a foreign holder sells, regardless of how much cash sits in your account.

DFM publishes a live foreign ownership table with three columns per security: Permitted, the maximum ownership the company allows for that investor group; Actual, the quantity currently owned including unsettled trades and open buy orders during the session; and Available, which is simply permitted minus actual. Investors are classified into three groups: Nationals, meaning investors holding the same nationality as the security’s country of origin; GCC, meaning GCC nationals other than those; and Foreigners, meaning everyone else. Where a company sets no separate GCC limit, GCC citizens count inside the foreigners’ bucket.

The practical effect is that an expat is a “foreigner” for this purpose whatever their visa status, and a popular large-cap can sit at or near its foreign ceiling for long stretches. Check the available column before you plan a position, not after your order is rejected. DFM also warns that the percentage moves for reasons unrelated to ordinary trading, including off-market family and inheritance transfers, conversions of bonds into shares, and changes in the nationality status of investors.

How Dividends Reach You

DFM pays cash dividends by one of two methods chosen against your investor number: transfer to your personal bank account, or credit to an iVestor card, which functions as a payment card usable at any VISA or PLUS ATM. The method is selected during investor number registration and can be changed later in the app.

Because payment is tied to the investor number rather than to your broker, dividends keep arriving even if your trading account has gone quiet. The corollary is that stale bank details are the usual cause of an unpaid dividend. Both the exchange and the regulator maintain unclaimed dividend processes for exactly this reason, which is a strong argument for updating your IBAN in the app the same week you change banks.

Tax on UAE Shares

The UAE levies no personal income tax, so a resident individual holding listed shares in a personal capacity is not taxed on the capital gain or on the dividend at the individual level. That is a genuinely different position from most home countries, and it does not follow that your home country agrees: many tax residents of other jurisdictions remain reportable there on worldwide investment income.

Corporate tax is a separate regime aimed at business activity rather than at personal investment. Where investing shades into a licensed business activity the analysis changes and becomes fact-dependent, so anyone trading at scale or through a company should read our guide to UAE corporate tax for freelancers and small businesses and take advice on their own facts. Brokerage fees themselves carry 5% VAT, as the fee schedules above show.

What Happens to Your Shares If You Leave or Die

An investor number is not cancelled when your residence visa ends, and shares held in the depository remain yours as a non-resident. Transfers on death are handled by the depository as inheritance transfers, priced on ADX at 0.20% of market value with a minimum of AED 25 on one side, plus a distribution charge of AED 30 per beneficiary, subject to a minimum of AED 100 and a maximum of AED 600.

Two things go wrong in practice. The first is the bank account: if you close your UAE account on departure without updating your dividend instruction, payments stall against a dead IBAN. Work it into the sequence in our leaving the UAE permanently checklist rather than treating the brokerage account as an afterthought.

The second is succession. A share portfolio is an asset that has to pass under some legal regime, and for non-Muslim expats the outcome depends on whether a will has been registered, exactly as it does for bank balances and property. Our guides to DIFC wills for expats in Dubai and to what happens to a UAE bank account after death explain the mechanics; the same reasoning applies to the securities account, and naming it explicitly in the will avoids an argument later. For the broader picture of building assets here without a state pension behind you, see our guide to saving and investing as a UAE expat.

Verifying That Your Broker Is Licensed

Both exchanges publish their own directories of accredited brokerage firms, and membership of the exchange is the check that matters for trading UAE-listed shares: a firm that is not a member cannot execute on that market. The securities regulator, which now presents itself as the Capital Market Authority, licenses the firms behind those memberships.

Cross-check any firm that approaches you against the exchange’s published broker directory before transferring money. A cold approach offering UAE share trading from an unlisted entity is the classic setup, and the fact that a platform quotes DFM prices proves nothing about whether it can settle a trade into your investor number.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can expats buy shares on the Dubai Financial Market?

Yes. Residents and non-residents can both hold DFM and ADX listed shares. You need an investor number from the relevant exchange and an account with a licensed broker. The one real restriction is the per-company foreign ownership limit: where a company’s foreign allocation is fully taken up, further foreign purchases are blocked until a foreign holder sells.

How much does a DFM or ADX investor number cost?

The exchanges do not charge individual investors for issuing the number, and DFM’s published fee list carries no such line item. A broker that obtains the number on your behalf may charge its own service fee; one bank-owned broker’s published schedule lists AED 50 for an investor number and AED 200 for account opening, plus 5% VAT.

What documents do I need for an ADX investor number?

UAE citizens and residents present an original Emirates ID. Foreigners not residing in the UAE present a passport and ID card. Every individual applicant must also provide an IBAN letter for a bank account held solely in their own name, not a joint account. Documents issued outside the UAE must be attested by the UAE Embassy in the issuing country, that country’s foreign ministry, and the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Is it cheaper to trade on ADX or DFM?

On the published schedule of one licensed UAE broker, ADX is materially cheaper: 0.15% of trade value against 0.275% plus AED 10 per executed order on DFM. On an AED 50,000 trade that is roughly AED 75 against AED 147.50. The broker’s own commission is identical on both; the gap comes from the market commission and the per-order clearing charge.

Can I get an investor number without a UAE residence visa?

ADX states that its mobile app channel serves both Emirates ID holders and non-Emirates ID holders, and lists passport-based documents for foreigners not residing in the UAE. The practical obstacles for a non-resident are the sole-name bank account requirement and the three-stage attestation of foreign-issued documents, both of which are far easier to satisfy while you still hold residency.

What are DFM trading hours?

DFM runs pre-opening from 09:30 to 10:00, the main trading session from 10:00 to 14:45, pre-closing from 14:45 to 14:55, and a trading-at-last phase from 14:55 to 15:00. Orders placed during pre-opening rest in the order book until the opening auction, so they do not execute at the moment you submit them.

How do I receive dividends from UAE shares?

DFM pays cash dividends either by bank transfer to an account in your name or onto an iVestor card that works at VISA and PLUS ATMs. You choose the method when you register your investor number and can change it later in the app. Payment follows the investor number, so out-of-date bank details, not an inactive trading account, are the usual reason a dividend does not arrive.

Do I pay tax on UAE share gains and dividends?

The UAE has no personal income tax, so an individual holding shares personally is not taxed here on the gain or the dividend. Your home country may still tax you on worldwide investment income depending on your tax residence there. Corporate tax targets business activity rather than personal investment, and brokerage fees carry 5% VAT.

Do I need separate investor numbers for DFM and ADX?

Yes. They are separate exchanges with separate depositories, so an ADX investor number does not give access to DFM listings or the reverse. Holding stocks across both markets means applying for both numbers, though you can use the same broker if that firm holds membership of both exchanges.

What happens to my shares if I leave the UAE?

The investor number is not cancelled when a residence visa ends and the shares stay registered to you in the depository. The practical risk is the dividend instruction: closing your UAE bank account without updating the IBAN stalls payments. Update the bank details before you close the account, and make sure the portfolio is covered by whatever succession arrangement you have registered.

Official Sources

Information current as of August 2026. Commission rates, account service fees and foreign ownership limits are set by individual brokers, exchanges and listed companies and change without notice; the broker figures cited here come from one licensed firm’s published schedule and are illustrative of structure, not a market-wide rate. ADX’s own fee schedule and the broker schedule state different market commission figures for ADX trades, and the settlement cycle applicable to your trade is stated on your broker’s contract note. This is general information, not investment advice. Verify current fees with your broker and current ownership limits with the exchange before trading.