HI sharoniouz and suzy, thanks for the replies!
sharoniouz... does the bank you work for provide a labour card for you? As Suzy rightly pointed out, the company I will work for is not registered her, nor does it want to be. So i feel like it's a grey area.
Working from home in Abu Dhabi, for an overseas company not registered here, being paid in my home country... My work is mostly online, occasional business meetings in Abu Dhabi / Dubai too probably. I've looked into a Freelance licence too, but that doesn't fit the bill either!
Another aspect is if I have to travel on business from Abu Dhabi to another country that requires a visa. Sigh, I'm spinning in circles here :)