How to Change the Currency of Your RAK ICC Share Capital

If your RAK ICC company banks, invoices or raises capital in a currency other than the dirham, expressing its share capital in that same currency can remove needless foreign-exchange friction and make your accounts and cap table read cleanly. A change of currency is handled through the RAK ICC portal’s Changes to Share Capital service — a formal amendment rather than an internal note. This guide covers exactly what a currency change does (and does not) change, the step-by-step portal workflow, the ten currencies RAK ICC offers, the two documents you must upload, the fees involved, and the corporate-tax and accounting points that catch people out. Where a figure comes from a portal screen that may be dated, we flag it [VERIFY] so you confirm the current position before filing.

What is a change of currency for RAK ICC share capital?

A change of currency is a redenomination: the currency in which your company’s issued and authorised share capital is expressed is switched from one currency to another — for example, from UAE Dirham to US Dollars. The shares themselves, and who holds them, stay exactly the same; what changes is the unit of account used to state the capital on the register and on the company’s certificate.

It helps to be precise about what is moving. A change of currency does not increase or reduce the amount of capital, and it does not alter the number of shares — those are separate Changes to Share Capital amendment types (increase in capital, reduction in capital, and so on). Nor does it touch ownership: shareholders and their percentages are untouched. In fact, RAK ICC deliberately locks the shareholder section during a currency change, precisely because ownership is not part of the exercise.

Because a RAK ICC company (a company registered with the RAK International Corporate Centre) has its share capital recorded on an official register, redenominating that capital is treated as a formal amendment. The RAK ICC portal therefore lists “Change of currency” as one of the selectable amendment types within the Changes to Share Capital service, alongside increases and reductions of capital, classification of shares, joint shareholding, redemption of shares and treasury shares.

Why would a RAK ICC company change its share capital currency?

Companies redenominate their share capital when the dirham is no longer the natural currency of the business — and carrying capital in a currency you never actually use creates avoidable translation noise in the accounts and confusion for investors. Aligning the share-capital currency with the currency you genuinely operate in is a tidy, one-off fix.

Common reasons a RAK ICC company changes its currency include:

Because RAK ICC companies are so often used as holding and international structuring vehicles, redenomination is a practical housekeeping tool. If your structure involves related parties or a wider group, it is also worth checking the interaction with UAE transfer pricing and corporate-tax reporting before you file — our company formation and restructuring team handles exactly these RAK ICC cap-table changes.

Which currencies can a RAK ICC company choose?

The RAK ICC portal offers a fixed dropdown of currencies for share capital. As shown on the Change of currency screen, the available options are:

The “often chosen when” column is practical guidance, not a rule — you may pick any currency on the list that suits your structure. In practice the overwhelming majority of RAK ICC redenominations are into US Dollars, because USD is the working currency for so much international trade and offshore banking. Whatever you choose, make sure the new currency is reflected consistently across your resolutions, share certificate and accounting records after the change.

How do you change the currency of RAK ICC share capital?

You change the currency by filing a single Changes to Share Capital amendment on the RAK ICC portal and selecting Change of currency. RAK ICC filings are lodged through a licensed registered agent, so in practice your agent completes these steps on the company’s behalf. The sequence is:

1. Open the amendment — in the portal, go to Company Services → Company Amendments → Changes to Share Capital.
2. Select “Change of currency” — choose it as the Amendment Type, then search for and select the company whose share capital currency is changing.
3. Fill the amendment details — enter the details of amendment (e.g. “changes to the currency of share capital”), the meeting date, the type of request (Normal or Urgent), and the signature verification status (e.g. Witnessed by Agent).
4. Choose the new currency — in Share Details, pick the new currency from the dropdown (AED, USD, GBP, EUR, HKD, INR, QAR, SGD, SDG or CHF). Add the correspondence email and mobile.
5. Leave the shareholders as they are — a change of currency locks shareholder editing; you cannot add or amend shareholders in this request, and you don’t need to.
6. Upload the documents — attach the directors’ resolution and the instrument of transfer (see the next section).
7. Review and submit — on the confirmation page, check that the new currency is displayed under Share Details and the fee is shown, then submit.

What documents does RAK ICC require for a change of currency?

The RAK ICC portal requires two documents to be uploaded for this amendment, and both are marked mandatory before the request can be submitted:

A practical note: a pure change of currency does not involve an ownership transfer, so the directors’ resolution is the substantive document here — it should clearly record the meeting date, the old currency, the new currency and (where relevant) the restated par value. Because the portal still lists the instrument of transfer as a required upload, confirm with your registered agent exactly what to attach for a currency-only change. Incomplete or inconsistent documents are the usual reason a RAK ICC amendment is queried or rejected — and a rejection means re-lodging and, potentially, paying again.

How much does a RAK ICC change of currency cost?

The RAK ICC portal shows a change-of-currency fee of AED 500 (price line “RC-Change in Currency”), with urgent processing adding a further AED 1,000 — so AED 1,500 in total if you need it expedited. VAT on the government fee is shown as AED 0.00. These figures are taken from the RAK ICC portal workflow and should be treated as [VERIFY] — confirm the current RAK ICC fee schedule before you file, as government fees are periodically updated.

Change of currency vs other share capital amendments — what’s the difference?

A change of currency is often confused with amendments that actually change the amount or number of shares. It doesn’t. Redenomination only changes the unit capital is stated in — the RAK ICC portal keeps it as a distinct amendment type precisely so it isn’t mixed up with an increase, a reduction, a redemption or a treasury conversion.

A quick rule of thumb: use Change of currency when the shares and owners stay the same but you want capital stated in a different unit. If you actually need to raise or cut capital, reclassify shares, or move shares into treasury, those are different Changes to Share Capital amendment types — choosing the right one up front avoids re-filing and a second fee.

What are the rules and restrictions on a RAK ICC currency change?

The defining restriction is that a change of currency freezes ownership: RAK ICC will not let you touch shareholder details in the same request, and the change only takes effect if the new currency is confirmed before submission. Get these guardrails wrong and the amendment either won’t reflect what you intended or will be queried.

Beyond the portal mechanics, treat the redenomination as a trigger to tidy the paper trail: the register of members, the directors’ resolution and the company’s certificate should all tell a single, consistent story about the currency, the meeting date and any restated par value. This is exactly what an auditor, a bank or a future buyer will check first.

Does a change of currency affect UAE corporate tax or accounting?

Redenominating share capital is a capital-structure and registry change, not income, so the change itself is not a taxable event. But it is a mistake to assume a RAK ICC company sits outside the UAE tax and compliance net — it doesn’t, and a currency change is a good moment to check the wider position.

A RAK ICC company is a UAE-incorporated juridical person, which means it can be a resident person within scope of UAE Corporate Tax under Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022. Being registered with RAK ICC does not automatically grant the 0% Free Zone rate — RAK ICC is a corporate registry rather than a designated free zone for the Qualifying Free Zone Person regime, so a RAK ICC company should assess its Corporate Tax registration and filing obligations on their own merits [VERIFY specifics for your structure]. Our UAE corporate tax team and the detailed corporate tax guide for UAE businesses set out how residence, the AED 375,000 threshold and the 9% rate apply, and where a holding structure may access reliefs — a point worth raising with a corporate tax consultant.

On the accounting side, keep one distinction clear. Under IFRS (IAS 21), a company reports in its functional currency — the currency of the primary economic environment in which it operates. Changing your share-capital currency on the RAK ICC register often reflects a functional-currency reality, but the two are related, not identical: switching the register to USD does not automatically change the functional or presentation currency in your books, so align them deliberately with your accountant. And regardless of the capital currency, UAE Corporate Tax is computed and filed in AED — if your financial statements are prepared in another currency, amounts are converted to AED for the return using the applicable exchange rate [VERIFY exact mechanics]. Our accounting and bookkeeping team keeps RAK ICC records in an audit-ready state, and where audited IFRS financials are needed our free-zone audit team can help. Two housekeeping points round this off: Economic Substance Regulations (ESR) reporting has been abolished for financial years ending after 31 December 2022 under Cabinet Decision No. 98 of 2024, and because RAK ICC filings run through a registered agent and involve ultimate beneficial owner information, keep your AML and UBO records current alongside the change.

Common mistakes when filing a RAK ICC change of currency

Most reworked currency-change filings come down to a handful of avoidable errors. Watch for these:

If any of this feels fiddly, that’s normal — the portal is unforgiving about the order of steps and the confirmation check. Having an experienced RAK ICC registered agent lodge the amendment, prepare the resolution and reconcile the register is usually faster and cheaper than fixing a rejected filing.