What is market manipulation?
Article 37(1)(a) of the Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2025 (Regulation of the Capital Market) prohibits any person, individually, in collusion or in participation with others, from trading in a security for the purpose of misleading or deceiving investors, creating the appearance of an active market, controlling or influencing its price, up, down or stabilising, or its trading volume, or affecting investor decisions, including agreements, fictitious transactions, and placing, modifying or amending buy or sell orders.
Article 37(1)(f) also prohibits contributing to or arranging any fictitious or sham transactions and causing harm to the reputation of the market, its members or those dealing in it.
What is the penalty?
Under Article 71(4), whoever deliberately performs any act or trading operation on a financial product with the intent to create a false or misleading impression of actual trading or genuine demand, or to control or influence its price or volume or investors' decisions, is punishable by imprisonment of not less than one year and a fine of AED 50,000 to AED 250,000,000, or either.
The article applies whether the result occurred or was only intended.
Are price stabilisation rules an exception?
Yes. Practising price stabilisation controls or mechanisms established by the Authority or capital market institutions does not violate the prohibition on influencing the price (Article 37(2)).
That is why legitimate market-making and stabilisation are different from manipulation, and the documents showing the mechanism matter.
What does the defence examine?
Intent, the pattern of orders and trades, the commercial reason for each, and whether the activity fell within an authorised mechanism.
Order books, communications between traders and records of who instructed what are the core evidence.
What should I do first?
Preserve order and trade data
With timestamps.
Keep communications between traders
Chats and calls.
List the commercial reasons for each trade
In writing.
Take advice before any regulator interview
Intent is the central issue.
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Frequently asked questions
Is placing a large order a crime?
Not by itself. The offence needs deliberate intent to mislead or influence price or volume (Article 71(4)).
Does agreement with others matter?
Yes. Article 37(1) covers acting in collusion or participation with others.
Is price stabilisation allowed?
Authorised stabilisation mechanisms are not a violation (Article 37(2)).
What is the maximum fine?
AED 250,000,000 (Article 71).
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Read the guideSources
Source: Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2025 (Regulation of the Capital Market), official English text on the UAE Legislation portal, checked 9 October 2026. The portal lists the law as active, in force from 1 January 2026. The Arabic text prevails over translations.
This page is general information, not legal advice.