Choose your structure
Which DIFC structure fits you?
Five questions. You get the answer on the next screen — no email, no gate — including the cases where the honest answer is that DIFC is the wrong jurisdiction.
- 5 questions
- No email required
- Answer in 30 seconds
- Sourced from DIFC rules
Quick answer
How do I choose the right DIFC structure?
0 of 5 answered
Why this does not give you a price
Because we are not in a position to. This site is an independent information and referral service, not a licensed corporate service provider — we do not set DIFC’s fees and we do not set the fees of the provider you eventually engage. A total produced here would be a quotation from someone with no standing to give one, and you would quite reasonably hold us to it.
What we can do is tell you which structure fits, and show you DIFC’s own published charges for each — cited, dated, and identical for every applicant. The part that varies is professional fees and premises, and those are quoted against your actual requirements.
Frequently asked questions
How do I choose the right DIFC structure?
Four things decide it, in this order: whether the activity is a regulated financial service, what the entity is actually for, whether it will employ anyone, and who will own it. Regulation comes first because it changes the answer regardless of everything else — a DFSA-authorised firm is a months-long project, not a filing.
What is the difference between a DIFC SPV and a Prescribed Company?
In DIFC the passive holding vehicle is the Prescribed Company, and 'SPV' is the term the market uses for it. The important constraints are that it cannot trade, cannot employ anyone, and not everyone is eligible to own one.
Do I need a Foundation or a trust?
A Foundation is a legal entity that owns assets in its own name; a trust is a relationship in which a trustee holds assets for beneficiaries. Families who want something that looks and behaves like a company usually prefer the Foundation. Both are available in DIFC and both benefit from the firewall against foreign heirship rights.
Does this tool give me a cost?
No, deliberately. This site is not a licensed corporate service provider, it does not set DIFC's fees and it does not set a provider's, so any total it produced would be a quotation from someone with no standing to give one. It tells you which structure fits; DIFC's own published charges for each are set out on the cost page.
Is the recommendation advice?
No. It is a starting point drawn from DIFC's published rules and handbooks. Real structuring turns on facts a five-question form cannot see — where you are tax resident, who your counterparties are, what you plan to do in three years. Confirm it before you file anything.
Had your answer? Let's check it against the detail
Tell us what you are building and we'll confirm the structure, flag anything the questions could not see, and introduce you to a licensed provider.