The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of the Abu Dhabi Global Market has published Consultation Paper No. 2 of 2026 on transfer schemes, proposing to lift the requirement that every business transfer be sanctioned by the ADGM Court and to keep that court step only for insurance. Everything else would use a lighter, notification-based route. The paper was issued on 27 July 2026 and is open for comment until 21 September 2026.
What a transfer scheme is today
A transfer scheme is the statutory mechanism, under Part 7 of ADGM’s Financial Services and Markets Regulations, for moving all or part of an authorised firm's or recognised body's business to another body.
Its value is that it can transfer a book of business without obtaining the consent of every affected client, because the ADGM Court reviews the scheme and its independent assessment protects those clients’ interests. Under the current rules, all such transfers, whether insurance, banking or other regulated business, must go through that court sanction. Transfers of domestic funds are handled separately under the fund rules and are not affected by this consultation.
Court sanction only for insurance
The central proposal is to narrow mandatory court sanction so it applies only to insurance business transfers, which the FSRA views as the most sensitive for the people whose policies are being moved. Within insurance, two situations would be carved out of the mandatory requirement:
- Intragroup transfers of insurance business where all the policyholders have consented.
- Transfers of reinsurance business where all the policyholders, represented by the ceding insurer, have consented.
All other insurance transfers would stay under judicial oversight, including the production of a formal scheme report. The FSRA notes this mirrors the United Kingdom, where certain limited insurance transfers are exempt from mandatory court sanction but can still opt into it.
A lighter route for everyone else
For non-insurance transfers, including banking, and for the two carved-out insurance scenarios, court sanction would become optional rather than compulsory. Firms could still apply to the Court where a transfer is complex, affects a large number of clients, or where the extra legal certainty is worth it, but they would not have to. In its place, the FSRA proposes a new Modified Transfer Scheme regime, set out in a new Chapter 8A of the General Rulebook, for transfers done without going to court. The minimum conditions would be:
- Prior written notification to the FSRA before the transfer starts, giving the regulator the chance to seek information, impose requirements, or object, for example, if the receiving firm lacks adequate financial resources or the right permissions.
- Direct notification to each client, in good time, explaining how the transfer could affect them.
- A public notice of the proposed transfer, such as on the transferring or receiving firm’s website.
Banks, along with those two excluded insurance scenarios, would face one extra gate: beyond notifying the regulator, they would have to obtain a no-objection acknowledgement from the FSRA before proceeding, reflecting the greater prudential weight of banking transfers. It is worth being precise here: under the proposal, banking transfers would not need court sanction, they would run through the modified route with that no-objection step.
Why the FSRA is proposing this
The regulator frames the change as proportionality rather than deregulation. Client protection remains paramount, but requiring court sanction in every case, it argues, can impose disproportionate costs and cause undue delay, particularly for small-scale transfers.
What is proposed, and how to respond
The mechanics enhance the existing Part 7 regime rather than introducing a new framework. The FSRA says there are no changes to existing requirements; the reforms are delivered by additions to the General Rulebook, the Glossary and the Guidance and Policies Manual. Because this is a consultation, the FSRA is explicit that firms should not act on the proposals until the relevant regulations and rules are actually issued.
Authorised firms, recognised bodies, prospective applicants and their advisers can send comments to the FSRA at fsra.consultation@adgm.com, quoting the consultation paper number, by the 21 September 2026 deadline.
The full details are in the consultation paper.
