Is a client using a power of attorney a red flag in UAE real estate?
Not on its own, but it recurs across the case studies and the FIU typologies as a feature of higher-risk transactions. The Supplemental Guidance flags instructions routed entirely through legal representatives without valid confidentiality or legal privilege justification, and a client who avoids direct interaction without a clear explanation.
The UAEFIU typologies report gives the pattern more shape. It describes third parties holding power of attorney for non-resident individuals and acting on behalf of the property’s beneficiary, brokers and tax advisers holding power of attorney for foreign offshore companies buying and selling UAE property, and non-residents issuing power of attorney to a broker and then asking the same broker to record a sale below actual value.
So the question to ask is not whether a power of attorney exists but why. A legitimate power of attorney has a reason a client can explain. One that exists to keep the beneficiary off the paperwork does not.
Legal Reference (source document):
· Supplemental Guidance for Real Estate Agents and Brokers, Ministry of Economy and Tourism, March 2026
· Cabinet Resolution No. 134 of 2025, Executive Regulations of Federal Decree-Law No. 10 of 2025
Scope note: powers of attorney are ordinary in UAE property transactions. The indicator concerns the absence of a credible reason for their use.
Further reading: Identifying who really controls a transaction
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