Advisory Services refers to offering, providing or agreeing to provide a personal recommendation to a client, either upon its request, or on the initiative of the Entity providing the recommendation, in respect of one or more actions or transactions relating to any Virtual Asset

‘Broker-Dealer Services’ refers to any of the following –

*As per Regulation II – Issuing Virtual Assets, any Entity in the Emirate that Issues a Virtual Asset in the course of a business, must comply with the VA Issuance Rulebook [latest version that is aligned with the issuance date].

[a] arranging orders for the purchase and/or sale of Virtual Assets between two Entities;
[b] soliciting or accepting orders for Virtual Assets, and accepting currency, or other Virtual Assets for such orders;
[c] facilitating the matching of transactions in Virtual Assets between buyers and sellers;
[d] entering into Virtual Asset transactions as a dealer on behalf of the Entity for its own account;
[e] making a market in Virtual Assets using client assets; or
[f] providing placement, distribution or other issuance* related services to clients issuing Virtual Assets.

Custody Services’ refers to safekeeping Virtual Assets for, or on behalf of, another Entity and acting only on verified instructions from/on behalf of such Entity*.

*All VASPs shall be subject to Rules regarding the storage and custody of clients’ Virtual Assets. Only VASPs which segregate each client’s assets in separate VA Wallets will qualify for a Custody Services License.

Exchange Services’ refers to any of the following:

[a] conducting an exchange, trade or conversion between Virtual Assets and currency;
[b] conducting an exchange, trade or conversion between one or more Virtual Assets;
[c] matching orders between buyers and sellers, and conducting an exchange, trade or conversion between [i] Virtual Assets and currency or [ii] one or more Virtual Assets; or
[d] maintaining an order book in furtherance of items [a], [b] or [c] above.

Lending and Borrowing Services’ refers to carrying out a contract under which a Virtual Asset shall be transferred or lent from one or more parties [the Lender(s)] to one or more other party [the Borrower(s)] where the Borrower(s) shall commit to return the same, at the request of the Lender(s), at any time either during or at the end of the period agreed upon, either to its interest or on behalf of others interest.

VA Management and Investment Services’ refers to acting on behalf of an Entity as an agent, or fiduciary, or otherwise taking responsibility for the management, administration or disposition of that Entity’s Virtual Assets. Examples may include, but shall not be limited to –[a] investment management services or otherwise managing VAs; and[b] taking responsibility for the ‘staking’ of VAs for the purpose of earning fees or other values paid to validators and/or node operators of a ‘proof-of-stake’ DLT.

Transfer and Settlement services’ Includes firms engaged in transmission or transfer of Virtual Assets from one Entity to another Entity or from one Entity to another VA Wallet, address or location.

Issuance Category 1’ refers to, but not limited to Fiat-Referenced Virtual Assets [FRVAs], defined as types of VA that purport to maintain a stable value in relation to the value of one or more fiat currencies, but do not have legal tender status in any jurisdiction, as more fully defined in the FRVA Rules.

Entities seeking to obtain a license from VARA to carry out Fiat-Referenced Virtual Assets (FRVA) issuance must adhere to all compulsory rulebooks [Company Rulebook, Compliance and Risk Management Rulebook, Technology and Information Rulebook, and Market Conduct Rulebook]. VASPs must also adhere FRVA Rules in ANNEX 1: FIAT-REFERENCED VIRTUAL ASSETS ISSUANCE RULES of the VA Issuance Rulebook.