Company Liquidation Notice to Creditors by Publication
When a UAE company is being wound up, the law does not let it simply disappear. Before the business can be struck off and its trade licence cancelled, the appointed liquidator has to reach the people the company owes money to — its creditors — and give them a fair chance to come forward. Part of that is done privately, by registered letter to creditors already known, and part is done in the open, by publishing an invitation in the newspapers so that creditors nobody has a record of can still learn what is happening. This guide explains that publication step: why it exists, exactly what Article 324 of the UAE Commercial Companies Law requires, what the published notice must say, and how it fits the wider closing-down process that ends with the licence being cancelled. It is general information to help owners and liquidators prepare, not legal advice on a specific liquidation.
- Publication is required by law, not optional — the liquidator must invite creditors to submit their claims
- Under Article 324, the invitation appears in two daily local newspapers, at least one issued in Arabic
- Creditors get a period of not less than 30 days from the date of the notice to submit their claims
- Only after the claim window and the final liquidation report can the trade licence be cancelled
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What the liquidation notice to creditors requires, in one paragraph
Under Article 324 of the UAE Commercial Companies Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2021), once a company enters liquidation the appointed liquidator must notify creditors to submit their claims in two ways at once: by registered letter to every creditor the company already knows, and by publishing an invitation in two daily local newspapers, at least one of them issued in Arabic. The notice must give creditors a period of not less than thirty days from the date of the notice to come forward with their claims. Publication is therefore not a formality the company can skip to close faster; it is a statutory protection for creditors, and doing it correctly is what lets the liquidation proceed cleanly to a final report and, ultimately, to cancellation of the trade licence.
Notice what the requirement is really about. It is not asking the company to advertise its troubles for their own sake; it is answering a specific problem — that a company about to close may owe money to people it cannot individually reach. The registered letter handles the creditors on the books. The newspaper publication handles everyone else: a supplier with an unpaid invoice, a lender, an employee, a counterparty to a contract who has no idea the company is winding down. From the date of that notice, the clock runs, and the thirty-day floor exists so that a real creditor is not shut out simply because the company moved quickly. The rest of this guide walks through why publication exists, the full closing-down flow around it, exactly what the published notice must contain, and the mistakes that force a liquidator to start the step again.
One boundary before the detail: this guide describes the mainland position under the federal Commercial Companies Law, where the trade licence is issued and cancelled by the local economic-development authority — in Dubai, the Department of Economy and Tourism (DET). Companies established in the financial free zones or in other free zones and offshore regimes follow their own registrar's liquidation and de-registration rules, which can differ in the detail. Confirm the exact procedure with the authority that issued your licence.
Why a closing company must invite creditors publicly
A company is a shield between its owners and the people it deals with. While it trades, creditors extend it credit on the understanding that the company stands behind its debts. Liquidation removes that shield in an orderly way: assets are gathered, debts are paid in the order the law sets, and only what is left goes to the shareholders. But that orderly settlement only works if creditors actually know the company is being wound up and get a chance to prove what they are owed. A private wind-down, with no public notice, would let a company distribute its assets to its owners and vanish before an unpaid creditor even heard the business had closed.
That is the gap publication fills. The registered letter reaches the creditors the company has recorded, but no company's books are ever perfect, and some claims are latent — a warranty that has not yet failed, a dispute not yet raised, an invoice sent to an old address. Publishing the invitation in the newspapers puts the fact of the liquidation into the public record, so that the burden shifts fairly: the company has announced its closure to the world, and a creditor who does not respond within the window has been given a real, documented opportunity to do so. This is why Article 324 pairs the two channels rather than allowing either alone.
The Arabic-newspaper requirement is not incidental either. Arabic is the official language of the State, so an invitation that appears only in a foreign-language paper would not properly reach the Arabic-reading public the notice is meant to serve. Requiring at least one of the two papers to be in Arabic ensures the announcement is genuinely public in the country where the debts arose.
The liquidation flow, from appointing the liquidator to cancelling the licence
Resolve to liquidate and appoint a liquidator
The shareholders (or the court, in a compulsory case) resolve to dissolve the company and appoint a liquidator, whose appointment is registered. From this point the liquidator, not the former management, acts for the company in the winding-up.
Notify known creditors by registered letter
The liquidator writes to every creditor recorded in the company's books, by registered letter, inviting each to submit its claim. The proof of delivery becomes part of the liquidation file.
Publish the invitation in two daily newspapers
The liquidator publishes the invitation to creditors in two daily local newspapers, at least one issued in Arabic, so that creditors not on the books are reached. This is the public step Article 324 requires alongside the letters.
Run the claim window — not less than 30 days from the notice
From the date of the notice, creditors have a period of not less than thirty days to submit their claims to the liquidator. The window runs from the notice date, so the notice must make that date and the deadline clear.
Verify claims, realise assets and settle debts
The liquidator examines the claims received, collects and sells the company's assets, and pays the debts in the order of priority the law sets, dealing with disputed or contingent claims according to the Law.
Final liquidation report
When realisation and settlement are complete, the liquidator prepares a final account of the liquidation and presents it, distributing any surplus to the shareholders. This closes the liquidator's work on the company's affairs.
Cancel the trade licence
With the liquidation concluded, the company applies to cancel its trade licence and complete de-registration through the licensing authority — in Dubai, the DET — after clearances from the bodies the process requires.
What the published liquidation notice should contain
- The full legal name of the company under liquidation and its trade-licence or commercial-registration number, so creditors can be certain which entity is meant
- A clear statement that the company has entered liquidation and that this is an invitation to its creditors to submit their claims
- The name of the appointed liquidator and the address and contact channel to which claims must be sent
- The deadline for submitting claims, expressed as a period of not less than 30 days running from the date of the notice
- What a creditor should provide with a claim — the amount owed and the supporting documents that evidence the debt
- The date of the notice itself, since the claim window is measured from it and a reader must be able to calculate the deadline
- An Arabic version of the notice for the Arabic newspaper, faithful to the details in any foreign-language version used in the second paper
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The Article 324 requirements at a glance
| Question | What Article 324 requires |
|---|---|
| Governing law | Article 324 of the UAE Commercial Companies Law — Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2021. |
| Who must act | The appointed liquidator, acting for the company in liquidation — not the former management. |
| How known creditors are notified | By registered letter to each creditor recorded in the company's books. |
| How the public invitation is made | By publishing the invitation in two daily local newspapers, at least one issued in Arabic. |
| The claim period | Not less than 30 days for creditors to submit their claims. |
| When the period starts | From the date of the notice — the period is measured from the notice, not merely from an act of publication. |
How the notice works in common situations
The company knows all of its creditors and has full records.
What is usually neededThe registered letters still do not replace publication. Article 324 requires both channels, so the invitation is published in the two newspapers even when the book creditors are all known.
A creditor comes forward after the 30-day window has closed.
What is usually neededA late claim is treated under the Law's rules on claims and priorities; it is not automatically extinguished, but a creditor who ignores a properly published, documented invitation weakens its position. Take advice on the specific claim.
The company operates only in English and its documents are in English.
What is usually neededThe language of the business does not change the rule: at least one of the two newspapers must be in Arabic, so a faithful Arabic version of the notice is prepared regardless of the company's working language.
The company is in a free zone, not on the mainland.
What is usually neededFree-zone and offshore entities follow their own registrar's liquidation and de-registration rules, which may set different notice mechanics. Confirm the creditor-notice step with the free-zone authority that issued the licence.
Mistakes that delay a liquidation or invalidate the notice
The mistakePublishing in only one newspaper, or in two that are both non-Arabic, to save on cost.
The fixPublish in two daily local newspapers with at least one issued in Arabic, exactly as Article 324 requires.
The mistakeRelying on the newspaper publication alone and skipping the registered letters to known creditors.
The fixSend registered letters to every creditor on the books and publish — the two channels are cumulative, not alternatives.
The mistakeSetting a claim period of less than 30 days, or leaving the deadline vague so a creditor cannot calculate it.
The fixGive a period of not less than 30 days from the date of the notice, and state the notice date so the deadline is clear.
The mistakeNaming the company loosely, so a creditor cannot be sure it is their debtor that is being liquidated.
The fixUse the full legal name and the licence or registration number so the entity is unmistakable.
The mistakeTreating publication as the last hurdle and applying to cancel the licence before the claim window and settlement are done.
The fixLet the claim window run, verify and settle claims, complete the final report, then apply to cancel the licence.
How to get the notice right the first time
Start from the creditors, not from the newspaper. Before anything is published, the liquidator should have a clean list of known creditors drawn from the company's books, because the registered letters go to them and the completeness of that list is what protects the liquidation later. Publication then covers the unknown remainder. Doing it in that order — letters prepared, list settled, then publish — means the two channels reinforce each other instead of one being an afterthought.
Get the wording precise and get the Arabic right. The notice must name the company unmistakably, name the liquidator and where to send claims, and state a deadline a reader can calculate from the date of the notice — a period of not less than thirty days. Because at least one newspaper must be Arabic, the Arabic text is not a courtesy translation; it is the operative public notice for the Arabic-reading creditor, and it must carry exactly the same company name, liquidator details, claim address and deadline as any foreign-language version. An Arabic notice that garbles the company name or the deadline can undermine the very protection publication is meant to give. This is where a certified legal-translation provider earns its place: making sure the Arabic invitation is faithful, complete and unambiguous, so the notice does its job on the first run and the liquidation is not exposed to a later argument that creditors were not properly invited. MANJAZ helps with the Arabic legal wording of the notice; the court, the newspapers and the licensing authority remain the bodies that set fees, accept filings and cancel the licence.
If you are liquidating a company and need the creditor-invitation notice drafted and translated into court-ready Arabic before it runs in the newspapers, tell us the company details and the deadline you are working to.
Learn about publication noticesQuestions about the liquidation notice to creditors
Yes. Under Article 324 of the UAE Commercial Companies Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2021), the liquidator must invite creditors to submit their claims both by registered letter to known creditors and by publishing the invitation in the newspapers. Publication is a legal requirement, not an optional step the company can skip to close faster, because it protects creditors the company's own records may not capture.
Not less than 30 days. Article 324 requires the liquidator to give creditors a period of at least thirty days from the date of the notice to submit their claims. Thirty days is the statutory floor, measured from the notice — the liquidator can allow longer, but not shorter. The notice should state the date it is given and the deadline so a creditor can calculate the window.
Two daily local newspapers, and at least one of them must be issued in Arabic. Article 324 requires the invitation to creditors to be published in two dailies, with the Arabic requirement ensuring the announcement genuinely reaches the Arabic-reading public. The second paper may be in another language, but publishing in only one paper, or in two non-Arabic papers, does not meet the rule.
At minimum, the notice should identify the company by its full legal name and licence or registration number, state that it has entered liquidation, name the liquidator and give the address for submitting claims, set out the deadline as a period of not less than 30 days from the date of the notice, and indicate what a creditor should provide — the amount owed and supporting documents. It should carry the date of the notice, since the claim window runs from it, and the Arabic version must be faithful to any foreign-language version.
The liquidator. Once appointed, the liquidator is the person who acts for the company in the winding-up, and Article 324 places the duty to notify creditors — both by registered letter and by publication — on the liquidator, not on the former owners or management. The owners resolve to liquidate and appoint the liquidator; carrying out the creditor-notice step is then the liquidator's responsibility.
After the substance of the liquidation is finished, not merely after the window closes. Once the claim period has run, the liquidator verifies the claims received, realises the company's assets, settles the debts in the order the law sets, and prepares the final liquidation report. Only then does the company apply to cancel its trade licence and complete de-registration through the licensing authority — in Dubai, the DET — after any clearances the process requires. The 30-day window is one step in that sequence, not the last one.
Official sources
- UAE Legislation portal — Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2021 on Commercial Companies (Article 324: liquidator's notice to creditors, registered letter and two daily newspapers, claim period of not less than 30 days from the notice)
- u.ae — The Official Platform of the UAE Government: closing / liquidating a business
- Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) — trade-licence services, including cancellation on liquidation
- UAE Ministry of Justice — main federal legislation (framework for the Commercial Companies Law and liquidation)
This content is for general awareness and is based on the official sources available at the time of the last update. Publication-notice requirements and steps differ by the type and stage of the case and the direction of the competent court or authority. It is not legal advice. MANJAZ is a service provider that helps prepare and coordinate publication-notice requirements — it is not a court, does not decide whether a case qualifies for service by publication, and does not issue judicial notices.
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