The UAE Competition law framework establishes a comprehensive regime to legislate merger control, imposes prohibitions on anticompetitive agreements and abuse of dominant positions. The key implication of Federal Law No. 4 of 2012 – on the Regulation of Competition (“Competition Law”)  is the requirement that certain merger transactions involving entities in the UAE will now be subject to the prior approval of the Ministry of Economy (“Ministry”).Although the Competition Law came into force in February 2013, delay in operationalising the competition regulator has meant that parties have until recently, remained unclear as to the process for making the applications or the forms to be employed for the purpose of individual exemption applications and merger control notifications.The substantive and procedural provisions for the implementation of the Competition Law are set out in Resolution of the Council of Ministers No.37 of 2014, Concerning the Executive Regulation of the Federal Law No. 4 of 2012 on the Regulation of Competition (the "2014 Regulations”). In addition, the Federal Cabinet of the United Arab Emirates has issued Cabinet Resolution No. 13 of 2016 on Ratios and Regulatory Controls related to Application of UAE Federal Law No. 4 of 2012 for the Regulation of Competition (the “Threshold Resolution”). The Threshold Regulations set out the thresholds for market share of (i) the de minimis exception (applicable to restrictive agreements and the prevention of the abuse of dominant positions); and (ii) merger control rules, as well as the criteria for identifying small and medium undertakings which are exempted from the Competition Law.View the rest of the article here.