SCA Decision No. 27/RM of 2023 was a United Arab Emirates Securities and Commodities Authority amendment to the SCA Rulebook for Financial Activities and Status Adjustment Mechanisms. It is best understood as part of the UAE’s 2023 onshore federal virtual assets framework: Cabinet Resolution No. 111/2022 created the federal baseline for virtual asset activities and VASPs, SCA Decision No. 26/RM/2023 addressed virtual asset platform operators, and Decision No. 27/RM/2023 inserted virtual asset activity rules into the wider SCA financial activities rulebook.
As of June 12, 2026, the Decision should be treated as a historical and superseded instrument for CryptoSlate reference purposes. Lexis Middle East records Decision No. 27/RM/2023 as dated May 3, 2023 and published on the SCA website, but not yet published in the Official Gazette. CMA Decision No. 04/RM/2026 later abrogated the VASP-related sections in the Rulebook, meaning the 2023 Rulebook amendments appear to have been substantively displaced by the newer CMA virtual asset framework.
What SCA Decision No. 27/RM of 2023 changed
The Decision amended SCA Decision No. 13/RM/2021, the Rulebook for Financial Activities and Status Adjustment Mechanisms. Available regulatory summaries and the amended Rulebook record indicate that the changes touched core parts of the Rulebook, including financial activities, preliminary licence approvals, fitness and propriety of employees, financial products, marketing of financial services, dealing, promotion, portfolio management, custody services, and capital adequacy.
In practical terms, the amendment moved virtual asset services into the architecture used for SCA-regulated financial services. It was not a stand-alone crypto statute. Instead, it adapted the Rulebook so that virtual asset-facing activities could be assessed through SCA licensing, conduct, custody, client-asset, employee certification and capital modules.
Relationship with Cabinet Resolution 111/2022 and Decision 26/RM/2023
Cabinet Resolution No. 111/2022 defined virtual assets and VASPs, set the federal scope for virtual asset activities in the UAE, excluded financial free zones from that federal framework, and required licensing or approval by the SCA or relevant local licensing authorities before carrying on VA activities. It also assigned the SCA functions to supervise and control VA activities, VASPs and transactions and to issue resolutions required for VASP licensing and transaction regulation.
Decision No. 26/RM/2023 worked alongside the Rulebook amendment by focusing on virtual asset platform operators. It linked platform operators to the first and second sections of the Financial Activities Rulebook and most of its third section, required accepted virtual assets to be placed on an official list before trading, and imposed platform obligations covering operational resilience, operational rules, transparency, safeguarding, compliance, trading controls and access arrangements.
Key provisions for crypto law tracking
- Virtual asset activity perimeter: Decision 27/RM/2023 integrated virtual asset activities into the SCA Rulebook’s licensing and regulated-activity structure.
- Financial products and conduct: The amended provisions included the Rulebook article on financial products and conduct provisions covering marketing, promotion, dealing and portfolio management.
- Custody and client assets: The amendment touched custody services, aligning virtual asset custody with SCA financial services controls.
- Employee and governance controls: The affected provisions included fitness and propriety, certified jobs and licensing-assessment requirements.
- Capital adequacy: The amended Rulebook provisions extended into the Rulebook’s capital adequacy title, relevant to prudential requirements for licensed entities.
Status and editorial treatment
For taxonomy purposes, this profile maps the instrument to Repealed because the accessible 2026 CMA record states that Article 6 of CMA Decision No. 04/RM/2026 abrogated the VASP-related sections in Titles 1, 2 and 3 and the Glossary of the Rulebook issued under Decision No. 13/RM/2021. Editors should note, however, that the accessible 2026 record names Decision No. 26/RM/2023 as abrogated and describes the Rulebook sections as abrogated; it does not list Decision No. 27/RM/2023 by name in the summary view. The safest wording is therefore that Decision 27’s virtual asset Rulebook amendments were superseded or substantively displaced by the 2026 CMA framework.