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Quick answer
Choose Summary Winding-Up if your DMCC company's affairs can be fully wound up within six months — typically a dormant or clean company with nothing left to settle. Choose Solvent Winding-Up if you need up to twelve months to collect, unwind and close. Both are voluntary, both require a Directors' Declaration of Solvency, and both are picked from the 'Type of Termination' field on the DMCC portal. If a Summary winding-up is not dissolved within six months, DMCC converts it to Solvent automatically.
If your DMCC company can pay everyone it owes and you have decided to close it, you have two voluntary routes — Summary Winding-Up and Solvent Winding-Up. They are almost identical in mechanics. The single thing that separates them is the time window the directors commit to, and that one choice changes which option you select on the DMCC portal.
The difference in one line
Six months or twelve months
Both routes are for a solvent company — one that can settle its liabilities in full. Under the DMCCA Company Regulations, the directors sign a Declaration of Solvency committing to a wind-up window:
- Summary Winding-Up (Section 18) — directors declare the company's affairs can be fully wound up within six (6) months of commencement. It is the faster, lighter route for genuinely straightforward closures.
- Solvent Winding-Up (Section 17) — directors declare the company can be wound up within twelve (12) months. The same process, with a longer runway for anything that takes time to settle.
Where you actually choose
The "Type of Termination" field on the DMCC portal
This decision is made when you raise the liquidation application on the DMCC member portal. After Application Initiation, the Liquidator Details stage asks you to set the Template Type (Standard or Non-Standard Resolution) and the Type of Termination — and that dropdown is exactly where Summary or Solvent is selected, alongside the resolution date and lease termination date.
DD-MMM-YYYY
DD-MMM-YYYY
Standard Template (DMCC template)
Summary Winding-Up (6 months to wind up)
Illustration of the DMCC portal's Liquidator Details stage. Values shown are placeholders.
Pick the wrong one and you are not stuck — but it is far smoother to choose correctly up front, because the route you select drives the wording of your resolution and the commitment in your Declaration of Solvency.
How to decide
When to select Summary, and when to select Solvent
| Choose… | Summary Winding-Up | Solvent Winding-Up |
|---|---|---|
| Wind-up window | Within 6 months | Within 12 months |
| Best for | Dormant or clean companies — no trading, no open contracts, nothing left to collect or unwind | Recently active companies — receivables to collect, leases or contracts to close out, assets to distribute |
| Liabilities | None, or fully settleable inside 6 months | Settleable, but needs more time |
| Declaration of Solvency | Required | Required |
| Approved auditor / liquidator | Required | Required |
| Speed | Accelerated | Standard |
Rule of thumb
If your company is dormant or has already stopped trading with nothing outstanding, choose Summary. If you are still unwinding real activity — collecting money, ending agreements, distributing assets — give yourself the room and choose Solvent.
The safety net
What happens if six months isn't enough?
The Regulations build in a fallback. In a Summary Winding-Up, if the liquidator has not applied for the company to be dissolved within six months of the directors' declaration, the Summary Winding-Up is converted to a Solvent Winding-Up automatically. So over-optimism on timing is not catastrophic — but it is cleaner to set a realistic window from the start.
Different risk if the company can't actually pay
Both routes assume solvency. If it turns out the company cannot settle its debts within the window, the winding-up must move to the insolvent route — where creditors get involved and you lose the simplicity of a voluntary close. We cover that here.
What stays the same either way
The rest of the process doesn't change
Whichever you select, the core DMCC steps are identical: appoint a DMCC-approved auditor as liquidator, cancel all visas and access cards, obtain bank and landlord clearances, run the two mandatory 14-day public notices, and submit the auditor's liquidation report. The full step-by-step is in our DMCC Liquidation Report guide.
Not sure which route fits your company?
We assess your position, tell you honestly whether Summary or Solvent is right, prepare the financial statements and the approved-auditor liquidation report, and guide every DMCC portal step. AED 1,999 all-inclusive for the report.
Continue the DMCC winding-up series
DMCC Declaration of Solvency →Insolvent & Involuntary Winding-Up →Related Fastlane services
FAQ
Is Summary winding-up faster than Solvent winding-up in DMCC?
Yes. Summary Winding-Up commits to fully winding up the company within six months, versus twelve months for Solvent Winding-Up, so it runs on an accelerated timeline. The actual steps are the same; the difference is the declared window. Summary suits dormant or clean companies with nothing left to unwind.
Can a DMCC Summary winding-up turn into a Solvent winding-up?
Yes. If the liquidator has not applied to dissolve the company within six months of the directors' Declaration of Solvency, the Summary Winding-Up is automatically converted to a Solvent Winding-Up under the DMCC Company Regulations. The process continues; only the route classification changes.
Which winding-up type should a dormant DMCC company choose?
A genuinely dormant company — no trading, no liabilities, nothing outstanding — is usually the textbook case for Summary Winding-Up, because its affairs can be fully wound up well within six months. A Declaration of Solvency stating no assets and no liabilities is still required, and an approved auditor must still prepare the liquidation report.
Do both Summary and Solvent winding-up need an approved auditor's report?
Yes. Both are voluntary winding-ups that require appointment of a DMCC-approved liquidator/auditor and a signed liquidation audit report before DMCC will issue the License Termination and Deregistration Letters. The report requirement does not depend on which of the two routes you select.
Where do I select the winding-up type on the DMCC portal?
You select it at the Liquidator Details stage of the liquidation application on the DMCC member portal, in the 'Type of Termination' field, alongside the Template Type, resolution date and lease termination date. The choice you make there must match the route declared in your resolution and Declaration of Solvency.
This article is general information on the DMCC Company Regulations and winding-up process, current as of June 2026, and is not legal or financial advice. The DMCC Authority sets the governing regulations and may update procedures and forms. Examples are illustrative only. Confirm your specific position with a qualified adviser before acting.