The purpose of these Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism and the Financing of Illegal Organisations Guidelines for Financial Institutions (FIs) (Guidelines) is to provide guidance and assistance to supervised institutions that are FIs, in order to assist their better understanding and effective performance of their statutory obligations under the legal and regulatory framework in force in the United Arab Emirates (UAE or State).

These Guidelines have been prepared as a joint effort between the Supervisory Authorities of the UAE, and set out the minimum expectations of the Supervisory Authorities regarding the factors that should be taken into consideration by each of the supervised financial institutions which fall under their respective jurisdictions, when identifying, assessing and mitigating the risks of money laundering (ML), the financing of terrorism (FT), and the financing of illegal organisations.

Nothing in these Guidelines is intended to limit or otherwise circumscribe additional or supplementary guidance, circulars, notifications, memoranda, communications, or other forms of guidance or feedback, whether direct or indirect, which may be published on occasion by any of the Supervisory Authorities in respect of the supervised institutions which fall under their respective jurisdictions, or in respect of any specific supervised institution.

Finally, it should be noted that, guidance on the subject of the United Nations Targeted Financial Sanctions (TFS) regime, and the related Cabinet Decision No. (74) of 2020 Regarding Terrorism Lists Regulation and Implementation of UN Security Council Resolutions On the Suppression and Combating of Terrorism, Terrorists Financing & Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction, and Related Resolutions is outside of the scope of these Guidelines.

Unless otherwise noted, these Guidelines apply to all Financial Institutions, and the members of their boards of directors, management and employees, established and/or operating in the territory of the UAE and their respective Financial and Commercial Free Zones, whether they establish or maintain a Business Relationship with a Customer, or engage in any of the financial activities and/or transactions or the trade and/or business activities outlined in Articles (2) and (3) of Cabinet Decision No. (10) of 2019 Concerning the Implementing Regulation of Decree Law No. (20) of 2018 On Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism and Illegal Organisations.

Specifically, they are applicable to all such natural and legal persons in the following categories:

Article 44.11 of Cabinet Decision No. (10) of 2019 Concerning the Implementing Regulation of Decree Law No. (20) of 2018 On Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism and Illegal Organisations charges Supervisory Authorities with “providing Financial Institutions…with guidelines and feedback to enhance the effectiveness of implementation of the Crime-combatting measures.”

As such, these Guidelines do not constitute additional legislation or regulation, and are not intended to set legal, regulatory, or judicial precedent. They are intended rather to be read in conjunction with the relevant laws, cabinet decisions, regulations and regulatory rulings which are currently in force in the UAE and their respective Free Zones, and supervised institutions are reminded that the Guidelines do not replace or supersede any legal or regulatory requirements or statutory obligations. In the event of a discrepancy between these Guidelines and the legal or regulatory frameworks currently in force, the latter will prevail. Specifically, nothing in these Guidelines should be interpreted as providing any explicit or implicit guarantee or assurance that the Supervisory or other Competent Authorities would defer, waive, or refrain from exercising their enforcement, judicial, or punitive powers in the event of a breach of the prevailing laws, regulations, or regulatory rulings.

These Guidelines, and any lists and/or examples provided in them, are not exhaustive and do not set limitations on the measures to be taken by supervised institutions in order to meet their statutory obligations under the legal and regulatory framework currently in force. As such, these Guidelines should not be construed as legal advice or legal interpretation. Supervised institutions should perform their own assessments of the manner in which they should meet their statutory obligations, and they should seek legal or other professional advice if they are unsure of the application of the legal or regulatory frameworks to their particular circumstances.

These Guidelines are organized into five (5) parts, roughly corresponding to the following major themes:

Part I—Overview (including background information on the UAE’s AML/CFT legislative and strategy framework, and highlights of key provisions of the law and regulations affecting Financial Institutions);

Part II—Identification and Assessment of ML/FT Risks;

Part III—Mitigation of ML/FT Risks;

Part IV—AML/CFT Compliance Administration and Reporting (including guidance on governance, suspicious transaction reporting, and record-keeping);

Part V—Appendices.

The various sections and sub-sections of each part are organized according to subject matter. In general, each section or subsection includes references to the articles of the AML-CFT Law and/or the AML-CFT Decision to which it pertains. While it has been kept to a minimum, users may find that there are instances of repetition of some content throughout various sections of the Guidelines. This has been done in order to ensure that each section or sub-section pertaining to a specific subject matter is comprehensive, and to minimize the need for cross-referencing between sections.

In some cases, the requirements or provisions of specific sections of the relevant legal and regulatory frameworks are deemed sufficiently clear with regard to the statutory obligations of supervised institutions such that no additional guidance on those sections is provided for in these Guidelines. In other cases, guidance is provided with regard to subjects which are not covered explicitly in the AML-CFT Law or the AML-CFT Decision, but which are nevertheless addressed either implicitly or by reference to international best practices.

In certain instances in which there are meaningful differences between the relevant legal and regulatory framework currently in force and previous laws or regulations, or in which there are differences in specific regulatory requirements between various Supervisory Authorities, the Guidelines may or may not highlight these differences. In the event of such differences or discrepancies, supervised institutions seeking further clarification on matters related to those sections are invited to contact their relevant Supervisory Authority through the established channels.

It is the Supervisory Authorities’ intention to update or amend these Guidelines from time to time, as and when it is deemed appropriate. Supervised institutions are reminded that these Guidelines are not the only source of guidance on the assessment and management of ML/FT risk, and that other bodies, including international organisations such as FATF,

MENAFATF and other FATF-style regional bodies (FSRBs), the Egmont Group, and others also publish information that may be helpful to them in carrying out their statutory obligations. It is the sole responsibility of supervised institutions to keep apprised and updated at all times regarding the ML/FT risks to which they are exposed, and to maintain appropriate risk identification, assessment, and mitigation programmes, and to ensure their responsible officers, managers and employees are adequately informed and trained on the relevant policies, processes, and procedures.

Text from the AML-CFT and the AML-CFT Decision are quoted, or otherwise summarized or paraphrased, from time to time throughout these Guidelines. For the sake of convenience, unless specifically noted to the contrary, all references in the text to the term “financing of terrorism” also encompass the financing of illegal organisations. In general, capitalized terms in the text of these Guidelines have the meanings provided in the Glossary of Terms (see Appendix 11.1). However, in the event of any inconsistency or discrepancy between the text or definitions provided for in the Law and/or the Cabinet Decision and such quotations, summaries or paraphrases, or such defined terms, the former shall prevail.