A company power of attorney — a corporate POA — is a written instrument by which a company, acting through the people its own records authorise, appoints a named person to perform stated acts in the company’s name: sign identified documents, deal with a bank, appear before a licensing authority, complete a transaction. It is the company that is the principal, not the manager or director who signs it, and the POA can only pass on powers the company itself has and the signatory is entitled to delegate. This guide covers who can grant one, when a resolution is needed, the difference between a general and a special corporate POA, the common uses — a director, an authorised representative, company incorporation — and how the document is notarised in Dubai. POAS prepares Corporate Powers of Attorney for a fixed fee of AED 2,199 + VAT.
Depending on the agreed purpose and the recipient’s requirements, a corporate POA may authorise the agent to:
Ownership transfers, borrowing, security, settlement of claims, litigation, tax, immigration and property disposals are not implied by a general grant. If one of these is needed, it must be identified, supported by the company’s approvals and written in expressly — see the general-versus-special section below.
The principal is the company, acting through the person or body authorised under its own records — its memorandum and articles of association or other constitutional document, its current manager, director or authorised-signatory record, and any resolution those documents require for the act in question. The agent is the person who will exercise the powers. Before a corporate POA is drafted, establish:
A trade licence identifies the business but does not, by itself, answer the authority question. The notary who executes the POA decides what evidence of authority is sufficient for the instrument; the receiving organisation decides separately whether it will act on it.
These are two different instruments, and the phrases are often used for either.
A director or manager granting the POA. Here the director signs on the company’s behalf as its authorised signatory, and the company appoints someone else — an employee, a PRO, a lawyer, a relative of the owner — as agent. What matters is that the director is entitled, under the company’s records, to grant that authority; where the records reserve the act to the board or the shareholders, a resolution comes first.
A director or representative receiving the POA. Here the company appoints a director, a manager, a partner or an “authorised representative” as agent — typically because the signatory named in the licence cannot attend, or because a bank, a free zone or a government department wants a named individual with written authority. The instrument is still granted by the company through its authorised signatory; it does not make the agent a signatory of the company in any wider sense, and the recipient may still ask for its own form or a resolution.
In both cases the safest drafting names the agent, the specific acts, the recipients and any limits — amounts, duration, whether the agent may delegate — rather than relying on a general phrase such as “to represent the company”.
UAE law distinguishes a general agency from a special one. Under the Civil Transactions Law (Federal Decree-Law No. (25) of 2025, in force from 1 June 2026), a general agency worded in general terms covers acts of administration only; acts of disposal — sale, gift, pledge, settlement and the like — need a special agency naming the act. A corporate POA follows the same rule: a general corporate POA equips the agent to run and represent the company in day-to-day administrative matters, while a special corporate POA is needed for a defined transaction with legal or financial consequences — signing a specific contract, dealing with a specific asset, a specific bank facility.
The practical consequence: for a company, a “special power of attorney for an authorised representative” that names the transaction and the counterparty is usually accepted more readily than a broad general grant, because the recipient can see exactly what has been authorised. The general-versus-special choice for individuals is explained in General vs Special POA; the same reasoning applies to companies, with the added step that the company’s own approvals must cover the act.
Founders who cannot attend in person commonly appoint someone — a business-setup consultant, a lawyer, a partner already in the UAE — to complete the incorporation steps: reserve the name, sign the memorandum, submit the licence application, collect the licence and establishment card, open the file with the immigration authority. Each licensing authority publishes its own requirements for such a POA: what it must cover, whether it must be notarised, and, where the founder signs abroad, that it must be legalised through the UAE embassy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before it is presented. Check the authority’s current requirement before the POA is drafted, and name the authority and the entity to be formed in the instrument.
POAS prepares the instrument and coordinates its notarisation; it does not provide the incorporation, licence amendment, company-secretarial or PRO work itself.
The licensed notary or receiving organisation may request originals, updated extracts or further evidence of authority. Upload identity and company documents only through the case upload link supplied for the order.
The notarial profession is governed federally by Federal Decree-Law No. (20) of 2022 Regulating the Notary Profession, with its executive regulations in Cabinet Resolution No. (16) of 2024. In Dubai the instrument is executed either at a Dubai Courts Notary Public or by an independent private notary licensed by Dubai Courts; Dubai Courts Resolution No. (137) of 2022 allows digital execution where the notary supports it. The notary checks the identity of the signatory, the evidence that the signatory may bind the company, and the wording of the powers; a document not in Arabic must be accompanied by a legal translation certified by the Ministry of Justice. Where the company’s signatory is outside the UAE, the POA is notarised there and legalised through the UAE embassy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before it can be used. The notary’s fees and the POAS fee are separate; both are set out in the cost guide.
Private-notary, government, translation, courier and other third-party charges are separate unless expressly included.
A written instrument by which a company, through the person its records authorise to sign, appoints a named agent to perform stated acts in the company’s name. The company is the principal; the POA can only carry powers the company has and the signatory may delegate.
Yes, where the company’s memorandum, articles or signatory records give the director that authority for the act concerned. Where the records reserve the act to the board or the shareholders, a resolution is needed first. The notary and the recipient each decide what evidence of that authority they require.
Not always. It depends on the company’s legal form, its constitutional records, the signatory’s authority, the transaction and the recipient. Send the complete authority chain rather than assuming the trade licence alone is sufficient.
For use with banks, licensing authorities, government departments and courts in the UAE, yes — the instrument is executed before a Dubai Courts Notary Public or a licensed private notary, and a POA signed abroad is notarised there and legalised through the UAE embassy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A recipient may in addition require its own form.
It may state banking powers, but the bank applies its own authority and KYC rules and may require additional corporate approvals, its own mandate form or direct verification.
Do not assume so. Different organisations may require distinct powers, forms, portal roles or personal attendance. Name each recipient in the instrument.
The person or body authorised to bind the company for that act, supported by the appropriate company records.
POAS checks the document set for the service route; it does not adjudicate a disputed corporate-authority question or provide legal advice.
No. POAS prepares and coordinates a defined Corporate Power of Attorney, including one used for incorporation steps; it does not carry out the incorporation itself.
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