Building a workplace savings platform for the UAE

Why does a UAE workplace savings platform need to be built locally?

A platform built for the UAE starts from UAE facts rather than adapting to them. Those facts include the Wage Protection System file formats issued through MoHRE, settlement in AED against local custodian accounts, member communication in Arabic and English of equal weight, and data held inside the country. Retrofitting these onto a European or UK pensions engine produces a platform that can break on the elements that matter.

Those elements are where operational risk lives. A system that treats Arabic as a translation layer will generate right-to-left statements inconsistently. A platform that assumes a single-currency contribution flow will struggle when an employer runs payroll in AED and a fund is priced in USD. These are not features for a later release. They are architectural choices made on day one, or not at all.

What regulatory context does a UAE-built platform sit inside?

Three frameworks, and they are not interchangeable. Cabinet Resolution No. 96 of 2023 established the federal Alternative End of Service Benefits Scheme, under which a private sector employer can fund future end-of-service benefits through monthly contributions to an approved fund rather than accruing gratuity as an unfunded balance sheet obligation. It is administered by MoHRE, and the funds are licensed by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA). Participation is voluntary for the employer, and gratuity accrued before enrolment stays where it is.

DIFC and ADGM each run their own arrangements under their own regulators: DEWS under the DFSA, mandatory for DIFC employers since February 2020, and ADGM's voluntary route under the FSRA since April 2025. A platform built inside the UAE from the outset is aligned with these frameworks by design. A platform built elsewhere treats them as configuration.

What does data residency mean for a workplace savings platform?

Company details, member records, contribution history, transaction data and reconciliation artefacts held on infrastructure physically located inside the UAE. This is not a compliance checkbox; it is a national infrastructure question. Data about UAE workers, their end-of-service entitlements and their long-term savings behaviour should not sit in a data centre outside of the country for convenience alone.

Azure's UAE regions have removed the technical excuse for hosting elsewhere. A UAE-hosted platform can meet the requirements of the federal Personal Data Protection Law without cross-border transfer arrangements, and it avoids the practical problems offshore hosting creates around regulator access, audit trail production, and responding to lawful requests within local timeframes. We set out our own approach on the hosting and sovereignty page.

Which participants does a UAE platform have to connect?

Fund managers, fund administrators, custodians, employers, employees and MoHRE.

The fund manager establishes the scheme and provides the fund range, while the fund administrator and custodian handle investment transacting and asset safeguarding. Employers submit contributions monthly, while employees have access to view and manage those savings. MoHRE administers all schemes, provides supporting data inputs and tracks overall compliance.

What do offshore platforms underestimate about the UAE market?

The workforce itself. A single mid-sized employer might have staff of sixty nationalities, contributing in AED, with beneficiary requirements shaped by home-country inheritance rules, a preference for Sharia-compliant fund options, and end-of-service journeys that involve visa cancellation and a final settlement that must be paid within 14 days of the employment ending to the employee's bank account of choice, either inside or outside of the country.

That complexity is the daily reality of the operational calendar: contribution processing, bank reconciliation, fund pricing and NAV, trade execution, member portfolio updates, withdrawals, reporting and compliance. Every stage has UAE-specific requirements.

What should providers ask when assessing technology?

Where the data physically lives. Which UAE frameworks the platform is aligned with by design rather than by configuration. How it handles the operational calendar end to end. How does the platform handle a backdated joiner? What happens when a company closes and 500 employees opt to withdraw at the same time? What happens when a contribution file doesn't reconcile?

These questions don't sit on a procurement spreadsheet but they can predict whether the system will survive contact with the actual UAE market.

Where does Cohlay fit?

Cohlay is one option in the consideration set for fund managers, custodians and administrators looking at UAE workplace savings infrastructure. It is DIFC-incorporated, hosted on Azure's UAE regions, and built by practitioners with operating experience inside UAE and DIFC workplace savings.

If you are evaluating a workplace savings platform for a UAE mandate, what is the one operational scenario you would want to watch it handle before signing?