THE PRACTICE
Everything a Gulf presence requires.
Nothing it doesn't.
Seven desks covering the full lifecycle, formation, licensing, governance, banking, funds, family office, and capital access. Each is led by a named partner; none delegates the judgement to juniors.
Dilmun Formation
"Incorporation and registration, done to counsel's standard."
The entity is the foundation everything else rests on, licence, bank account, visa, lease. We form it once and form it right: constitutional documents drafted for the structure you will actually become, not the template the registrar has on file.
- Companies limited by shares (Bahrain WLL / SPC / BSC; DIFC Ltd / PLC)
- Branches and recognised companies of foreign parents
- Prescribed Companies and special-purpose vehicles
- Foundations and non-profit incorporated organisations
- Name reservation, constitutional drafting, registrar liaison
The vehicle most lenders specify, the DIFC Prescribed Company, costs USD 100 to incorporate and USD 1,000 a year in registrar fees, against USD 8,000 and USD 12,000 for a standard DIFC company, as of August 2026. It requires no operational office, and a Prescribed Company formed for structured financing is exempt from filing audited accounts.
Dilmun Licensing
"CBB and DFSA applications that survive the regulator's reading."
A financial-services licence is a negotiation with the regulator conducted on paper. We prepare applications that answer the examiner's questions before they are asked: credible business plans, defensible financial projections, compliance and AML frameworks built for inspection, not decoration.
- CBB investment business, PSP, and crypto-asset service licences
- DFSA Category licences and representative offices
- DIFC Innovation Licence for fintech entrants
- Business plans, financial projections, compliance manuals
- Regulator correspondence and application defence
A licence application is read the way an examiner reads: every projection challenged, every policy tested against inspection. We write it that way from the first draft, which is why our applications are answered rather than returned.
Dilmun Governance
"Good standing, kept."
Incorporation is a day; governance is the lifetime. We serve as company secretary, provide directorships where substance requires them, and keep every register, filing, and resolution current, so the entity passes any bank review, audit, or regulator examination it ever meets.
- Company secretarial and board support
- Resident directorships and officers for substance
- UBO registers and economic-substance filings
- AML/CFT frameworks and ongoing reporting
- Annual returns, renewals, and registrar filings
Good standing has a price list: a DIFC Prescribed Company's annual confirmation statement is USD 300, and its UBO register must be kept current, as of August 2026. We keep both, and everything behind them, current as a matter of rhythm rather than reminder.
Dilmun Banking & Substance
"The account, the office, the people."
A company without a bank account is a certificate in a drawer. Account opening in the Gulf is the industry's real bottleneck, we prepare the file banks actually approve, make the introductions our relationships allow, and build the physical and human substance behind the entity.
- Corporate account preparation and bank introductions
- Registered office and serviced-office arrangements
- Staffing, employment contracts, and payroll coordination
- Work permits and residence visas (LMRA / DIFC channels)
- DEWS and end-of-service administration in DIFC
Account opening at the main local banks typically carries no opening fee, but minimum balances of AED 25,000 to AED 50,000 are common, as of August 2026. A small number of institutions onboard remotely; we state each bank's position in writing before you commit, and a realistic account timeline is two to six weeks.
Dilmun Funds
"The sponsor's seat in the Gulf."
For managers establishing a regulated presence or domiciling a vehicle in the region: we form the management entity, coordinate the licence application, and establish the fund structure alongside your counsel, from first conversation with the regulator to first close.
- Fund manager establishment (DFSA / CBB)
- DIFC Exempt and Qualified Investor Funds
- CBB-registered and exempt funds in Bahrain
- External (foreign) fund registration
- Ongoing fund-entity governance and filings
The choice of domicile is a decision an investor reads before the first meeting: DIFC Exempt and Qualified Investor Funds for speed and familiarity, CBB-registered funds where Bahrain's framework serves better. We advise on both without preference and form to the decision, not the habit.
Dilmun Family Office
"Structures for significant families."
DIFC family arrangements, foundations, and holding structures built for succession rather than sentiment. We establish the architecture, staff the governance, and keep the structures private, current, and enforceable across generations.
- DIFC Family Arrangements and single-family offices
- DIFC and Bahrain foundations
- Holding companies and family SPVs
- Succession and governance charters
- Privacy-preserving administration
A structure for a significant family is judged by one test: does it still hold, private and enforceable, when the third generation reads it. DIFC family arrangements and foundations are built to that test, and we keep them current across generations, not across quarters.
Dilmun Capital Access
"The borrowing entity Gulf capital requires."
Non-GCC companies and individuals seeking debt from Gulf banks, or an investment partner from a Gulf investment firm, are asked for one thing first: a locally incorporated obligor. We form the borrowing or investee vehicle to lender specification, coordinate security with counsel, and govern the entity for the life of the facility. Arranging credit itself is a regulated activity, conducted with licensed counterparties; Dilmun forms and keeps the vehicle.
- DIFC Prescribed Companies as financing SPVs
- Bahrain SPVs and holding vehicles for credit structures
- Share pledges and security coordination with counsel
- Lender- and investor-ready documentation files
- Life-of-facility governance and compliance
Already have a vehicle that failed a bank review or fell out of good standing? The desk also refits existing entities, gap audit, repair, and re-presentation to the lender.
Lenders increasingly ask that the articles carry their protections from incorporation: the capacity to grant security over assets and shares, restrictions on further indebtedness, disposals and change of control, and consent rights over constitutional amendments and director appointments. We draft them in at formation, from a complete file a DIFC Prescribed Company forms in three to five weeks, and in two to three where the file is complete on day one, as of August 2026.
We advise. Then we file.
Every engagement begins with a partner conversation about what you are actually trying to do, and whether the Gulf is the right place to do it.
AND THE KEEPING
Formation is the beginning. Keeping is the practice.
An entity that stays in good standing does not do so by accident. It is renewed on time. Its registers are current. Its beneficial ownership is filed. Its board meets and its minutes are kept. Its economic-substance return is submitted, and its bank knows exactly who owns it. When a lender, a regulator, or a counterparty asks, the file is ready that afternoon, not that quarter.
Dilmun Governance and Company Secretarial is the desk that keeps our clients, and, on request, entities we did not form, in that condition, quietly, year after year.