The older DIFC Prescribed Regulations had provisions wherein Prescribed Companies could avail office space and hire employees. There were also some other offerings such as a technology holding company, that fell in between PCs and Commercial Holding companies. 

The DIFC has now streamlined their offerings by issuing new Prescribed Companies Regulations, that make PCs pure passive vehicles. 

The new DIFC Prescribed Company Regulations addresses a significant gap in the offerings from the center, where there was no product comparable to the Special Purpose Vehicle regimes that existed in many comparable jurisdictions. The earlier PC regime required a Qualifying Applicant or a Qualifying Purpose, both of which tied in the product to existing DIFC clients. 

Under the new regime, Prescribed Companies can be established by qualifying applicants (GCC Persons, DIFC Persons etc.), for a qualifying purpose (aviation, maritime, IP, crowdfunding and structured finance), to hold GCC-registrable assets, or, in case none of these apply, through a DIFC Corporate Service Provider so as to provide the required substance. 

In essence, this brings a new level of flexibility to the offering – for instance, you can now form a PC if you are from India, to hold an asset in Africa, by appointing a CSP at the DIFC. 

Since the Prescribed Company cannot have employees, the DIFC has spun off the Qualifying Applicant bit into a different product called Active Enterprises. One can set up Holding Companies, Proprietary Investment Companies and Managing Offices as an Active Enterprise, with visa options, provided that one has a tie-in to the center already.