UAE Capital Market Authority Issues the Virtual Assets Framework, Establishing an Integrated Regulatory Regime Comprising Five Core Modules and Eight Regulated Activities

The UAE's Capital Market Authority (formerly SCA) issued a comprehensive Virtual Assets Framework on 13 April 2026, creating a new integrated regulatory regime with five core modules and eight regulated activities that boards of companies operating in or planning to enter digital asset markets must now govern. The framework signals a significant expansion of the CMA's oversight perimeter and directly affects board-level risk, compliance, and strategy decisions for any organisation with digital asset exposure in the UAE. Boards that have not yet mapped virtual asset activities to their governance and risk frameworks should treat this as an urgent regulatory action item.