United Arab Emirates · Money service business
Circle Internet MEA Ltd
Circle Internet MEA Ltd is a private company limited by shares incorporated in Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). The Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of ADGM granted it Financial Services Permission number 250035 on 27 November 2025, to operate as a money services provider. It is a subsidiary of Circle Internet Group, Inc., the NYSE-listed group whose regulated affiliates issue the USDC and EURC stablecoins. The FSRA does not permit the firm to deal with retail clients or to hold or control client money.
Licences and registrations
Held by Circle Internet MEA Ltd. 1 entry on 1 of the 22 tracked registers, retrieved 25 September 2026.
| Register | Licence | Number | Jurisdiction | Status | Registered | Ends | Activities | Register entry |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FSRA Public Register - FirmsFinancial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA), ADGM | Financial Firm; ADGM Company (a private company limited by shares)Money Transmitter / Remittance | 250035 | United Arab Emirates | Active | 2025-11-27 | — |
|
Search the register ↗ |
- Each licence applies in the country of the regulator that granted it.
- Registers are tracked in 37 countries. Licences granted elsewhere are not recorded here.
Swift network
Swift’s ISO 9362 BIC directory
Holds no BIC in Swift’s directory. No LEI is matched to this entry, and BICs are linked by LEI only.
Overview
Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources
Customers
Not published
Employees
Not published
Ownership
Group subsidiary
Circle Internet Group, Inc.
Firm type
FX and business payments
Trades as Circle
- Ownership
- Circle Internet Group, Inc., which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, describes the firm as one of its foreign subsidiaries.
- Direct parent
- Circle Internet Group, Inc., United States
- Head office
- Unit 37, 12, Al Sila Tower, Abu Dhabi Global Market Square, Al Maryah Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- Incorporated
- 2024
Online
- Websites & references
- circle.com ↗
- Official social accounts
- LinkedIn ↗ · X ↗ · Facebook ↗ · Instagram ↗ · YouTube ↗ · Discord ↗
Sources · 7 pages consulted
- adgm.com/public-registers/fsra/firms/financial-firms/circle-internet-mea-ltd-250035
- circle.com/legal/licenses
- sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1876042/000187604226000062/crcl-20251231.htm
- circle.com/pressroom/circle-advances-uae-expansion-with-adgm-license-and-appoints-managing-director-
- circle.com/pressroom/circle-secures-in-principle-regulatory-approval-from-adgms-fsra
- adgm.com/media/announcements/circle-advances-uae-expansion-with-adgm-license-and-appoints-managing
- forbesmiddleeastevents.com/team-members/saeeda-jaffar/
Authorisation
Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources
- Operates under
- Its own licences
The FSRA of ADGM authorises the firm under Financial Services Permission 250035 to provide money services. Its permission covers money remittance and currency exchange. It may not deal with retail clients or hold or control client money.
| Authority | Licence or registration | Number | Held | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA), Abu Dhabi Global Market United Arab Emirates | Financial Services Permission (Money Services Provider; register class Money Transmitter / Remittance) | 250035 | In its own name | Active | adgm.com ↗ |
Licences and registrations the research found, at home and abroad, as the firm and its regulators publish them. The Licences and registrations card shows the entries on the registers the directory tracks.
Products and markets
Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources
According to Circle, the ADGM permission lets it expand regulated payment and settlement use cases in the UAE for businesses, developers and financial institutions. The FSRA register lists the firm's activities as money remittance and currency exchange.
The firm operates from ADGM and serves professional and institutional clients only, as its FSRA permission excludes retail clients.
- Sells to
- Financial institutions · Enterprises · Platforms and marketplaces
- Serves customers in
- United Arab Emirates
Leadership
Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources
- Executive
- Dr Saeeda Jaffar Managing Director, Circle Middle East & Africa
Recent events
Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources
-
Leadership
Circle appointed Dr Saeeda Jaffar, previously of Visa, as Managing Director for Circle Middle East & Africa.
circle.com ↗ -
Licence
The FSRA of ADGM granted the firm Financial Services Permission 250035 to operate as a money services provider.
adgm.com ↗ -
Licence
The FSRA of ADGM gave Circle in-principle approval to operate as a money services provider.
circle.com ↗ -
Other
Circle incorporated its ADGM subsidiary in December 2024, according to the group.
circle.com ↗
Compliance-relevant events of the last three years, newest first: fines and enforcement, investigations, security incidents, licence changes, funding rounds, acquisitions and leadership changes. Each links to its source.
Identifiers
- Licence no. · FSRA-FIRMS
- 250035
- BIC
- Holds no BIC in Swift’s directory
- LEI
- No LEI mapped
- Elucidate firm ID
- 176c56a539dc
Profile
- Type
- Money service businessRemittance, currency exchange, cheque cashing and money orders. Usually registered with an anti-money-laundering supervisor rather than licensed prudentially. Taken from the licences on the tracked registers.
- Regulation
- Prudential licenceAuthorised with capital, safeguarding and conduct requirements, e.g. an authorised payment or e-money institution in the EU or UK, a major payment institution in Singapore, or a MiCA crypto-asset service provider.
- Main licence class
- Money Transmitter / Remittance
- Activities
- Money remittance
- Currency exchange
- Licensed in
- United Arab Emirates · Middle East & North Africa
- First registered
- 2025-11-27
- Website
- www.circle.com ↗
Types come from Swift’s BIC classification, the licences on the 22 tracked registers, and the ECB and FSB bank lists. Most banks outside the euro area appear as financial institutions, because their supervisors’ registers are not tracked yet.
Ownership and group
GLEIF relationship records
No LEI is matched to this entry, so GLEIF relationship records cannot be linked.
Addresses
- Address on the register
- United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi, Maryah Island, Unit 37, 12, Al Sila Tower, Abu Dhabi Global Market Square, Abu Dhabi
- Country
- United Arab Emirates
ISO 20022 identification
As an agent in a Swift cross-border payment message (CBPR+)
This institution holds no BIC. A CBPR+ message identifies it by name and postal address, and may add its LEI or a clearing code.
- Identified by
- Name and postal address. No LEI or clearing code is mapped in the directory
- Postal address
- Does not fit the CBPR+ limits
- The address does not fit in the two address lines of 35 characters that CBPR+ allows next to a town and country.
- The address line repeats the town or postcode. Remove the repeat if your payment system rejects it.
CBPR+ identifies the instructing and instructed agents by BIC only. An institution without a BIC can be the debtor, creditor or an intermediary agent.
The values are as published by the register. Check them against your own records before use.
Sources & method
Register entries come from the public registers of financial regulators, standardised into one taxonomy. LEIs are matched through GLEIF, and a BIC is linked only through a shared LEI.
An institution missing from these registers is not necessarily unregulated.
Register entries are not matched against the OFAC or EU sanctions lists. Where the legal entity also holds a BIC, the matches for that BIC are on its page. Always screen against the official lists.
An institution is one entry in the directory: a BIC8 in Swift’s directory, or a firm on a tracked register that holds no BIC. Licences held by an institution with a BIC are shown on its page.
Read the methodology →Register for this page
- FSRA Public Register - Firms—Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA), ADGM · source ↗ as at 25 September 2026
- Overview, authorisation, partners, products, leadership and events—researched per institution by an AI model with web search, from the firm's own website, terms and filings, regulators' registers and notices, company registers and news. Licences, partners, figures, people and events link to their source, and each card shows the research date. AI research can be wrong or out of date, so check key facts at the source.
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A licence records what an institution is authorised to do; it does not assess it. The Elucidate FinCrime Index (EFI) is an independent score of the financial crime risk of banks and payment institutions.
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