UAE amends anti-money laundering laws

New measures combat such offences and address financing of terrorism and illegal organisations

The amendments aim to support efforts to fight financial crime. Antonie Robertson / The National

The UAE's laws on anti-money laundering and the financing of terrorism and illegal organisations have been amended, the government has announced.

The amendments are designed to support efforts to fight financial crime while consolidating the country’s technical compliance with international treaties and recommendations, state news agency Wam reported.

A National Committee for Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism and Financing of Illegal Organisations has been formed as a result.

A Supreme Committee for the Oversight of the National Strategy for Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing has also been established.

This committee will study, oversee and assess the effectiveness of strategies and measures implemented by the National Committee for Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism and Financing of Illegal Organisations.

It comes as the UAE intensifies its operations against fiscal crimes, specifically money laundering and financing of terrorism.

On Thursday, 32 local gold refineries were suspended for three months for failing to follow anti-money laundering laws.

A series of inspections on activities related to the trade and manufacture of precious metals and gemstones were carried out by the Ministry of Economy to ensure compliance with anti-money laundering legislation in the gold sector.

Following this, the ministry charged the refineries with 256 violations, amounting to eight violations for each.

Among the alleged violations were failing to take proper measures to identify money laundering risks, not making required notifications of suspicious transactions to the Financial Information Unit and not examining customer and transaction databases against names on terrorism watch lists.

And, earlier this month, the UAE Central Bank imposed a fine of Dh5.8 million ($1.6 million) on a bank operating in the Emirates for breaching the country's laws on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CFT).

In 2021, the government founded an Executive Office for Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing after passing an anti-money laundering and terrorism financing law in 2018.

The value of fines imposed by regulatory authorities in the field of Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing between January and October last year reached Dh249.2 million ($67.9 million), compared with Dh76 million in 2022.

More than Dh10 million in fines imposed as targeted financial sanctions was collected between July and October 2023.

A sign of the progress made in recent years is that the country was removed from the Financial Action Task Force’s grey list this February.

The FATF is a global body that combats money laundering and terrorism financing.

The decision to take the UAE off the watchdog’s increased monitoring list was made after a comprehensive on-the-ground review of its economy. The Emirates was placed on the grey list in 2022.