The CISI UAE Financial Rules & Regulations exam is notoriously threshold-heavy. Most failing candidates know the concepts but mis-remember a specific number. This cheat sheet collects the testable numerics in one place — print it, learn it, beat the trap distractors.
| Topic | Threshold |
|---|
| SCA board members — term length | 4 years, renewable once |
| Board termination — consecutive missed meetings | 3 (without acceptable excuse) |
| Securities holding disclosure (board member changes) | Within 1 week |
| SCA fiscal year | 1 January to 31 December |
| Final accounts to board (after FY end) | Within 90 days |
| Budget submission (before new FY) | At least 1 month |
| Cabinet of Ministers reporting | Every 6 months |
| Market licence application review by SCA | Within 15 days |
| Board decision on complete licence app | Within 30 days |
| Symbolic gift cap (board members) | AED 500 (per gift) |
| Related-party board approval threshold | < 5% of capital |
| Related-party general assembly threshold | ≥ 5% of capital (+ SCA-accredited assessor) |
| Related-party (sister/affiliate) definition | ≥ 30% capital ownership |
| Document retention (board minutes etc.) | ≥ 10 years |
| Licence categories: Cat 1 (Securities) | AED 30 million capital |
| Licence categories: Cat 2 (Investment) | AED 50 million capital |
| Licence categories: Cat 3 (Custody/Clearing) | AED 50 million capital |
| Licence categories: Cat 4 (Credit Rating) | AED 5 million capital |
| Licence categories: Cat 5 (Ranking & Advice) | No capital requirement |
| Topic | Threshold |
|---|
| Max administrative fine (per violation) | AED 100,000 |
| Max suspension of licensed body | 1 year |
| Max suspension of authorised employee | 2 months |
| No-activity → cancellation window | 6 months from licence |
| Serious violations lookback (initial approval) | 5 years |
| Moderate violations lookback | 2 years |
| Cancellation publication | 2 daily newspapers (at least 1 in Arabic) |
| Record retention | Not less than 10 years |
| Archive recovery time | Within 3 business days |
| Employee data retention (from last update) | 10 years |
| Cloud data retention ("zero data loss") | 10 years |
| Complaint referral non-response window | 10 business days |
| Topic | Threshold |
|---|
| Self-managed fund corporate founder capital | ≥ AED 20 million |
| Prior profitability of corporate founder | 2 financial years |
| Founders' minimum subscription | AED 5 million |
| Founders' lock-up period | 6 months from foundation |
| Family fund — family ownership | 100% (NOT 90% — common trap) |
| Initial approval — public fund | 10 working days |
| Initial approval — private fund | 5 working days |
| Final-approval document submission | Within 30 days of closing subscriptions |
| SCA certificate issuance | Within 5 days of submission |
| Fund must begin investment policy | Within 12 months of licence |
| First financial year | 6–18 months |
| Semi-annual audited reports | Within 45 days |
| Annual audited reports | Within 3 months |
| Private fund transfer to pro investor — min nominal | ≥ AED 180,000 |
| VC fund — minimum qualifying investment | ≥ 70% of assets |
| VC fund — lending cap to unlisted | ≤ 30% of assets |
| VC fund — full reporting threshold | ≥ AED 180 million AUM |
| GP/LP natural-person LP — annual income | ≥ AED 3 million |
| GP/LP natural-person LP — net equity (ex-residence) | ≥ AED 7 million |
| Cash fund — minimum credit rating | BBB+ (or equivalent) |
| Cash fund — cash instrument minimum | ≥ 90% of assets |
| Cash fund — weighted avg maturity | ≤ 120 days |
| Real estate fund — minimum allocation | ≥ 75% of assets |
| Public REIT — distribution | ≥ 80% of net profits annually |
| REIT — borrowing limit | ≤ 50% of total assets |
| In-kind shares — evaluator no-trade window | 15 days before, 5 days after |
| In-kind evaluation report data freshness | Not older than 3 months |
| In-kind evaluator experience | 5 years general, 3 years in asset field |
| Topic | Threshold |
|---|
| CDD trigger — occasional transactions | ≥ AED 55,000 (single or linked) |
| CDD trigger — wire transfers | ≥ AED 3,500 |
| Beneficial owner — ownership threshold | 25% or more controlling interest |
| Record retention | ≥ 5 years from transaction completion / relationship end |
| Money laundering — standard penalty | ≤ 10 years + AED 100k–5m fine |
| Aggravated money laundering | Temporary imprisonment + AED 300k–10m |
| Terrorism financing | Life or ≥ 10 years + AED 300k–10m |
| Legal-person fine range | AED 500k–50m |
| Failure to report STR | Imprisonment + AED 100k–1m |
| Tipping off | ≥ 6 months imprisonment + AED 100k–500k |
| Admin penalty range (per violation) | AED 50,000–5,000,000 |
| Market abuse (Article 37) | 3 mo – 3 yr + AED 100k–1m |
| SCA admin trading ban (max) | 1 year |
| Compliance officer reports | Semi-annual |
| Topic | Threshold |
|---|
| Suitability report — full update cycle | Every 3 years |
| Client undertaking on data | Annual |
| Periodic statements — retail baseline | At least every 6 months |
| Retail statements — leverage case | Monthly |
| Retail statements — deal-by-deal case | Every 12 months |
| Retail confirmation — order execution | Next business day |
| Loss-limit breach reporting | End of business day |
| Promoter notification → SCA stop window | 10 days |
| Fund promotion approval window | 15 days |
| Promo material — major shareholder threshold | 10%+ |
| Foreign fund — private offering min subscription | ≥ AED 500,000 (or AED 1m if UAE free zone) |
| Introducer decision window | 15 days |
| SPAC — initial issued capital | ≥ AED 100,000 |
| SPAC — post-IPO issued capital | ≥ AED 100 million |
| SPAC sponsor share range | 3%–20% |
| SPAC subscription window | 5–30 business days |
| SPAC subscription extension cap | 10 business days |
| SPAC public-subscription proceeds | ≥ 90% in escrow within 2 business days |
| SPAC business combination deadline | 2 years from listing (extendable to 3) |
| SPAC merger target valuation | ≥ 80% of deposited funds |
| SPAC merger shareholder approval | ≥ 75% of represented shares |
| Topic | Threshold |
|---|
| E-Trading approval — period | 1 year (expires 31 Dec) |
| Back-up data retention | 10 years |
| Brokerage quarterly reports | Within 45 days |
| Brokerage annual reports | Within 90 days |
| Foreign broker prof-record lookback | 6 months clean |
| Big block deal — minimum size | ≥ 1% of issuer's capital |
| Big block deal — price range | ±25% of previous closing |
| CSD record retention | ≥ 15 years |
| Register deposit | 5 working days of listing approval |
| Bonus shares — fractions sold | Within 30 days |
| Pledged securities — max market value | 50% |
| Settlement — CSD report time | By 08:00 |
| Settlement — funds in account | By 09:00 |
| Settlement — bank transfer time | By 09:30 |
| Trade-day objection deadline | 3pm |
| Commodities CCP — paid-up capital | ≥ AED 50 million |
| Commodities CCP — licence fee | AED 200,000 |
| Commodities CCP — independent board | At least 1/3 (min 2) |
| Commodities CCP — skin-in-the-game minimum | AED 10 million |
| Margin requirements — confidence | 99% |
| Default fund stress testing | Daily |
| DGCX Gold Futures contract size | 32 troy ounces |
| DGCX Gold Futures — min price move | US$0.10 per troy ounce |
| DGCX Silver Futures contract size | 1,000 troy ounces (±10%) |
| DGCX Silver Futures — min price move | US$0.005 per troy ounce |
| Shanghai Gold Futures — last trading day | 15th calendar day of delivery month |
| Brent Crude — delivery months | 18 monthly |
| WTI Crude — delivery months | 18 monthly + 10 semi-annual |
| Topic | Threshold |
|---|
| DFM capital | AED 8 billion (8 billion shares; 20% IPO) |
| Client statements (quarterly) | Every 3 months |
| Failed-settlement broker action | Within 1 working day of settlement date |
| Closed period — material info | 10 days |
| Closed period — financial statements | 15 days |
| Mistake adjustment window | Within 30 minutes of session end |
| Record retention | 10 years |
| Pre-opening lock-in | Last 5 minutes |
| Settlement period | 2 days (T+2) |
| Default order validity | Day order (if no time-in-force set) |
| Topic | Threshold |
|---|
| Depository Centre terminal install | Within 1 week of listing approval |
| 5%+ shareholder reporting | Periodic to SCA |
| Internal auditor removal notice | ≥ 30 days advance |
| IPO minimum subscription (PJSC) | AED 5 million |
| IPO working capital | 12 months |
| Conversion to PJSC — net profit | ≥ 10% of capital over previous 2 years |
| Share premium — calculation base | 6-month average market price; deduct ≤ 25% |
| Rights issue — advance notice | ≥ 20 business days |
| Rights trading — minimum period | ≥ 10 business days |
| Buyback — max % of paid-up capital | 10% |
| Buyback — SCA approval window | 15 working days |
| Buyback — execution deadline | 1 year from approval |
| Buyback blackout | 15 days before / 3 days after disclosure |
| 2nd-category triggers | 6-month suspension OR ≥ 50% accumulated losses |
| Watch-list monitoring | 1 year (extendable to 3) |
| Watch-list action-plan disclosure | Every 3 months |
| Delisting notice / market announcement | Within 30 days of decision |
| Conciliation committee decision | Within 15 working days |
| Qualified investor (corporate) — 2 of 3 criteria | Budget ≥75m / annual return ≥150m / paid-up ≥7m AED |
| Qualified investor (natural) | Net equity ≥ AED 4m + annual income ≥ AED 1m |
| Debt securities / Sukuk minimum issue | ≥ AED 10 million |
| Sukuk audited annual filings | Within 180 days of FY end |
| Voluntary cancellation notice | ≥ 90 days advance |
| Crypto fundraising — retail cap per client | ≤ AED 350,000 |
| Crypto — individual sanction suspension | ≤ 2 months |
Practise these thresholds in question form
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