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Dubai VARA — Virtual Assets and Related Activities Regulations 2023

Regulates virtual asset service providers operating in or from Dubai, including exchanges and brokers.

View official source document

Rules extracted

214

Obligations decomposed

17.8x

Avg obligations per rule

🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates

Jurisdiction

About this regulation

The Virtual Assets and Related Activities Regulations 2023 establish Dubai's comprehensive regulatory framework for virtual asset service providers (VASPs). Issued by VARA under Law No. (4) of 2022 Regulating Virtual Assets in the Emirate of Dubai, the Regulations define seven categories of licensed virtual asset activities, impose four compulsory rulebooks (Company, Compliance & Risk Management, Technology & Information, Market Conduct), and include activity-specific rulebooks for exchange, broker-dealer, custody, lending, management, advisory, and issuance services. The framework covers governance, AML/CFT, consumer protection, stablecoin issuance, NFT provisions, and enforcement.

What AuditDSS covers

Source

Regulation

Extracted

Rules

Decomposed

214

Obligations

17.8x

Decomposition ratio

Each rule is decomposed into an average of 17.8 atomic obligations — the smallest testable units that can be independently violated.

Fully extracted & scored

All 214 obligations have been decomposed, titled, risk-scored, and embedded for semantic matching.

Risk scoring

Every obligation in VARA Regulations 2023 is scored across independent risk dimensions:

Obligation Weight

How critical within the regulatory framework

Violation Likelihood

How often breached in practice

Enforcement Evidence

Regulator enforcement history and penalties

Cascade Dependency

How many obligations depend on this one

Regulatory details

Full title: Dubai VARA — Virtual Assets and Related Activities Regulations 2023
Regulatory body: Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority
Jurisdiction: 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates
Document type: regulation
Effective date: February 7, 2023
Issuing authority: Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), Government of Dubai
Industry: AML & Counter-Terrorism Financing
Official source: View source document ↗

Who this applies to

VASPsexchange operatorsbroker-dealerscustody providerslending platformsadvisory firmsstablecoin issuersNFT platforms

Key requirements

VASP licensing (7 activity types)
company governance
capital and prudential requirements
technology and information security
AML/CFT compliance
market conduct
consumer protection
stablecoin reserve requirements

Frequently asked questions about VARA Regulations 2023

What is VARA Regulations 2023?

Who does VARA Regulations 2023 apply to?

VARA Regulations 2023 applies to VASPs, exchange operators, broker-dealers, custody providers, lending platforms, advisory firms, stablecoin issuers, NFT platforms.

How many obligations does VARA Regulations 2023 contain?

AuditDSS has decomposed VARA Regulations 2023 into 214 atomic obligations from 12 rules. Each obligation is independently testable and risk-scored.

What are the key requirements of VARA Regulations 2023?

The key requirements include: VASP licensing (7 activity types), company governance, capital and prudential requirements, technology and information security, AML/CFT compliance, market conduct, consumer protection, stablecoin reserve requirements.

How can I assess my VARA Regulations 2023 compliance?

Upload your compliance policy to AuditDSS. The platform maps your document against all 214 VARA Regulations 2023 obligations using deterministic AI scoring — not checklists or LLM summaries. You get a risk-scored gap analysis showing exactly which obligations are covered, partially covered, or missing.

Which jurisdiction enforces VARA Regulations 2023?

VARA Regulations 2023 is enforced in United Arab Emirates by Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority.

When did VARA Regulations 2023 come into effect?

VARA Regulations 2023 became effective on February 7, 2023.

What industry does VARA Regulations 2023 apply to?

VARA Regulations 2023 is primarily relevant to the AML & Counter-Terrorism Financing industry. AuditDSS covers 64 regulations in this industry sector.

Build a VARA Regulations 2023 compliance pack

Don't have a compliance policy yet? AuditDSS generates a complete compliance pack for VARA Regulations 2023 — alone or combined with other regulations your business needs. Every clause is mapped to specific obligations.

Policy

High-level commitments and governance framework covering VARA Regulations 2023 requirements.

Procedures

Step-by-step operational procedures to implement each policy commitment.

Forms & checklists

Ready-to-use forms, registers, and checklists for day-to-day compliance operations.

Multi-regulation

Combine VARA Regulations 2023 with other regulations into a single unified compliance pack for your business.

Build VARA Regulations 2023 compliance pack

Already have a policy? Assess it against VARA Regulations 2023

Upload your document

Upload your compliance policy, program manual, or operational document. AuditDSS accepts any text-based document.

AI maps against 214 obligations

Your document is scored against every obligation in VARA Regulations 2023. Each claim is mapped to the obligation tree and evaluated for coverage.

Risk-scored gap report

Receive every gap ranked by risk priority with remediation guidance, enforcement evidence, and cascade impact analysis.