What Do the ADGM Registration Authority’s Regulatory Priorities Mean for Businesses?

With the post year‑end activities underway and regulatory developments accelerating, the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) Registration Authority (RA) has issued its Regulatory Priorities for 2025–2026, outlining the supervisory themes that will shape expectations around governance, reporting, assurance quality and innovation.

ADGM mandate remains centred on safeguarding the integrity and attractiveness of business ecosystem while supporting responsible innovation across emerging sectors. The RA reiterates its commitment to a risk‑based and proportionate supervisory model, ensuring transparency, fairness and targeted enforcement across the commercial legal framework.

Supervisory Strategy and Enforcement Approach

With a regulatory population that includes 41 audit firms, 146 audit principals and 329 DNFBPs, the RA continues to strengthen its monitoring capabilities. Its approach is centred around targeted supervision, early detection of issues, proportionate enforcement action and constructive engagement with regulated entities.
The overarching objectives remain:

• fostering continuous compliance,
• upholding fairness and transparency, and
• building effective regulatory relationships.

Regulatory Priorities for 2025–2026

The RA outlines nine supervisory priorities, several of which represent continued efforts from previous cycles while others reflect emerging regulatory needs. 

1. A core emphasis remains on accuracy and timeliness of statutory filings, including licence renewals, annual accounts and confirmation statements. This reflects the RA’s responsibility for maintaining an accurate public register. 
2. The RA also reaffirms its focus on audit quality and corporate reporting, supported by planned inspections of ADGM‑registered audit firms and principals and ongoing publication of audit monitoring findings. This focus aims to enhance the quality and reliability of financial statements, strengthening market confidence.
3. Risk‑based supervision will be increasingly supported by technology‑enabled monitoring, including digital tools used for assessments and oversight of virtual asset wallets. This aligns with ADGM’s ambition to lead in regulated innovation. This means greater supervisory coverage can be achieved with increased efficiency and broader population testing.
4. Strengthening beneficial ownership compliance remains a priority, with the RA monitoring timely and accurate submissions. Firms should expect heightened scrutiny and be prepared to respond swiftly to requests for clarification or evidence.
5. The RA also highlights the need to support responsible development of emerging technologies, including Distributed Ledger Technology Foundations, through guidance, policy development and supervisory engagement. This is expected to further enhance the overall business environment and support innovation.
6. For the retail sector, the RA will enhance expectations around fair and transparent business practices, accompanied by consumer‑focused complaint handling capability and educational outreach. Businesses will need to demonstrate a proactive commitment to high consumer‑protection standards.
7. As AML/TFS supervisor of DNFBPs, the RA will continue to drive improvements in anti‑financial‑crime compliance, through on‑site inspections and ongoing guidance. This effort supports the integrity and trustworthiness of the marketplace.
8. The RA will focus on identifying and addressing any cases of unlicensed activity, licence misuse, or false representations of ADGM licence status
9. Finally, the RA will ensure enforcement actions are timely, proportionate, and coordinated, including where collaboration with other authorities is required. The firms need to be mindful of the fine line in terms of their activities and are encouraged to review their activities regularly and ensure alignment with the license activities. 

While these nine priorities define the RA’s supervisory focus for 2025–2026, the Authority emphasises that they do not limit the scope of its monitoring or enforcement activities, which continue to apply across all areas of ADGM’s commercial framework.

Preparing for the Regulatory Cycle Ahead

The RA’s 2025–2026 priorities underline ADGM’s commitment to a transparent, resilient and innovation‑ready regulatory environment. For businesses operating in ADGM, this is an important period to strengthen governance, refresh compliance frameworks and ensure readiness across statutory filings, audit quality, AML/TFS and digital‑asset supervision.

Our Support for ADGM Registered Entities 

Baker Tilly UAE supports organisations across all dimensions of ADGM compliance and regulatory governance. Our specialists are available to assist organisations in preparing for the regulatory expectations set out for the period ahead

If you would like assistance reviewing your compliance posture or preparing for the RA’s supervisory priorities, our specialists are available to support.

In alignment with this regulatory emphasis, Baker Tilly UAE places audit quality at the centre of its assurance practice. Our audit quality initiatives - ranging from strengthened internal review mechanisms to continuous professional development and technology‑enabled audit procedures - reflect our commitment to delivering rigorous, transparent and consistently high‑standard audits. Quality sits at the heart of what we do, and we remain dedicated to supporting ADGM‑registered entities in meeting the expectations set by the Registration Authority while upholding the trust placed in us by clients and regulators alike.

The full ADGM Regulatory Priorities Report is available to download here.

Additional guidance and resources published by the Registration Authority can be accessed here.