Guide

DIFC and ADGM fund and SPV setup: fees and capital compared

Updated 2026-08-15

An SPV is a registry fee and little else. A fund manager is a licence, a regulator and capital that has to stay in the firm.

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Question 1

What will the business actually do?

Pick the closest description. If several apply, pick the one that would need the heaviest permission.

DIFC/ADGM SPV setup: what each registry charges

Special purpose vehicle fees as each authority prints them, US dollars, read 31 October 2026
Zone	To set up	Each year
DIFC SPV	US$100 incorporation	US$1,000 licence
ADGM SPV (Specialised entity)	US$1,900 registration	US$1,400 renewal

"SPVs in DIFC can be set up with a one-time incorporation fee of USD 100 and an annual commercial licence fee of USD 1,000", says DIFC. Source: DIFC, special purpose vehicles.

Source: Freezone Registry Fee Schedule

ADGM prices SPVs as Specialised entities. Its 2025 fee revision says "the fees for the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) category remain unchanged at USD 1,900" (ADGM, fee revision for commercial licences starting 2025). Renewal is US$1,400 a year under the Registration Authority schedule.

Neither figure includes the registered office, a corporate service provider's fee or the eligibility rules each zone sets for who may own an SPV. Read both pages before you compare totals.

Fund manager setup: the licence fee

A fund manager is a regulated firm, so it pays its registrar and, separately, its regulator. ADGM charges a financial Category A entity US$17,000 to register and US$16,500 a year under the Registration Authority schedule.

An eligible FSRA-approved venture capital fund manager pays US$1,500 for three years, covering registration and the next two renewals. The DIFC registry and DFSA fees are not on this site because we have not read them at source; see the fees guide.

Fund manager setup: base capital

Managing a collective investment fund is a Category 3C activity in both rulebooks. Headline base capital is US$500,000 at the DFSA and US$250,000 at the FSRA, and both cut it for pure fund managers:

DFSA: US$140,000 for a manager of a public or credit fund, US$40,000 otherwise.
FSRA: US$150,000 for a manager of a public or retail fund, US$50,000 otherwise.

Sources: DFSA PIB 3.6.2, FSRA PRU 3.3.2. Which floor applies turns on the exact permission; see the licence categories.

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Questions, answered directly

How much does an SPV cost in DIFC and in ADGM?

DIFC prints US$100 to incorporate an SPV and US$1,000 a year for its licence. ADGM prints US$1,900 to register an SPV as a Specialised entity and US$1,400 a year to renew. Registered office and service provider costs are extra in both.

Is ADGM cheaper for a venture capital fund manager?

On the registry fee, an eligible FSRA-approved venture capital fund manager pays ADGM US$1,500 for three years. Base capital also matters. It is US$50,000 at the FSRA for a manager of funds other than public or retail funds. At the DFSA it is US$40,000 for funds other than public or credit funds. Regulator fees are extra in both.

Sources

This site's own datasets, every figure quoted from its source and dated:

The Centre Firm Register carries 3 published figures read from 3 sources' own pages, from 10,018 to 13,353 count, read 11 November 2026.
The Freezone Registry Fee Schedule carries 14 published figures read from 6 sources' own pages, from 100 to 16,700 USD, read 7 November 2026.
The Regulator Authorisation Tariff carries 41 published figures read from 9 sources' own pages; the 39 published figures given by category run from 0 to 10,000,000 USD, read 7 November 2026.
For ADGM, the median published figure in the Setup Provider Pricing is 7,800 USD across 3 figures from the sources' own pages (range 1,400 to 8,000 USD), read 11 November 2026.

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