Real estate
Manager's cheque in the UAE for a non-resident buyer
A UAE property transfer is settled with a manager's cheque drawn on a UAE bank. Only a UAE bank can issue one, and it issues it to its own account holder. Titanium receives the purchase funds into a regulated custody arrangement and arranges the cheque for the completion date.
What a manager's cheque is
A manager's cheque is a cheque the bank draws on its own funds rather than on a customer's account. It takes the money from the account holder first and sets it aside, then issues the cheque. That is why a seller accepts it as settled value at the transfer appointment, and why an international wire sent on the morning of the appointment does not serve the same purpose.
You may see the same instrument called a cashier's cheque or a bank cheque. They are the same thing.
Only a UAE bank can issue one. It issues it to its own account holder, against cleared funds in that account, made payable to the party the account holder names. Each element of that sentence is a constraint on a buyer who lives overseas and holds no UAE account, which is the reason a regulated custody arrangement exists for this purpose.
How this works in Dubai
In Dubai, a sale between a buyer and a seller, or their authorised representatives, is registered at a Real Estate Registration Trustee office. These are private centres approved by the Dubai Land Department to handle registration, and the transfer appointment takes place at one of them.
The Dubai Land Department lists a manager's cheque among the methods it accepts for its own registration fees, alongside electronic options including ePay, Dubai Pay and the Noqodi wallet. What the seller will accept for the purchase price itself is a matter for the sale agreement rather than for the registration authority, and in practice a manager's cheque is what is asked for. It is not the only method a transfer can involve. In practice it is the one most sale agreements ask for.
The practical consequence is the same either way. Your conveyancer or authorised representative confirms what your particular transfer requires and supplies the exact payee and amount for each cheque. Titanium arranges the cheque on that documented instruction. It does not calculate registration fees, trustee office fees, agency commission, a mortgage settlement or any amount due to the seller, and it does not check documents belonging to the transfer.
Outside Dubai, registration procedure and the documents a transfer needs differ, and this page does not set them out. Tell us where the transfer will be registered and we will confirm whether Titanium can act.
Your four steps
How the cheque is arranged
Four steps, from the first conversation to the cheque in your conveyancer's hands. The instrument is the constraint, so the sequence is built backwards from the appointment date.
Tell us about the purchase
The property, the completion date, the price and where the money is coming from. We confirm whether we can act before you send anything.
Complete identity and source of funds checks
Identification for every buyer named on the purchase, and evidence of where the purchase money came from. The custody arrangement is documented and you are given a named contact.
Transfer the purchase funds
You transfer the purchase amount in your chosen currency to the account confirmed to you. Receipt and clearance are confirmed back to you.
Titanium arranges the manager's cheque
The cheque is arranged in the payee and amount fixed in your documented instruction, for the completion date, and delivery is coordinated with your conveyancer or agent.
Before the appointment
The four points that decide the timetable
Payee name
The cheque is arranged for the payee named in your instruction. Your conveyancer or authorised representative supplies or confirms the exact name the transfer requires, and Titanium arranges the cheque on that documented instruction. A payee named incorrectly is the most common reason a transfer appointment is rearranged.
Amount
Fixed in the instruction. Where the purchase is settled by more than one cheque, each is a separate instruction with its own payee and amount. Your conveyancer or authorised representative confirms what each is to be, and Titanium arranges the cheques accordingly. Titanium does not calculate any of the amounts.
Completion date
The cheque is arranged for the appointment date. Bank cut-off times apply, and a date confirmed late in the day is a date confirmed for the following business day.
Source of funds evidence
This is usually the item that sets the timetable rather than the banking. Bank statements or equivalent evidence, provided at the start rather than at the end.
Onboarding
What you will need
What onboarding asks for before a cheque can be arranged. Corporate and trust buyers should tell us about the structure when they make contact, and we will confirm the applicable requirements.
Valid passport or government photo identification
Identity verification, for every buyer named on the purchase.
Proof of address
A recent utility bill, bank statement or equivalent showing your residential address.
Evidence of source of funds
Bank statements, a sale contract, employment or dividend records, or equivalent. Usually the item that determines the timetable.
Sale and purchase agreement or MOU
Confirms the property, the parties, the price and the completion date.
Payee details for the cheque
The exact name and details the cheque is to be made out to, supplied or confirmed by your conveyancer or authorised representative.
Do not send passports, bank statements or other sensitive documents by ordinary email. Secure submission instructions are provided once your enquiry is received.
Who handles each part of the purchase
Arranging the cheque is one part of a purchase that has several, and each part belongs to somebody different. The list on the right is the shortest useful answer to who to ask about what.
Titanium's part is the money. It receives the purchase amount under the custody agreement and arranges the manager's cheque in the amount and to the payee fixed in the documented instruction, subject to applicable law and regulatory requirements. Its role is non-discretionary. It is not a party to the sale, does not act for the buyer, the seller, the broker or the developer, does not verify title, does not determine whether a condition of the sale has been satisfied, and gives no legal, tax or investment advice.
Related
Where to go next
Paying for a Dubai property from overseas
The wider payment question: how the money reaches completion when the buyer holds no UAE bank account.
Non-resident payment routeReal estate custody
The service page: what Titanium holds on a property purchase and how the arrangement is documented.
Real estate custodyEscrow questions answered
What an escrow account is in the UAE, how one is opened, and the release and client money questions that follow.
Read the FAQsTreat any unexpected change to payment instructions as a reason to pause and confirm before sending funds.
Titanium Financial Ltd, trading as Titanium Escrow, is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Abu Dhabi Global Market for Providing Custody and Providing Money Services, under Financial Services Permission number 200010.
Tell us about your purchase
The property, the completion date and where the funds are coming from. We will confirm whether Titanium can act and what documents will be needed.