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  • 1. Introduction

    • 1.1. Purpose of the Guidance

      Article 44.11 of the 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.”

      The purpose of this Guidance is to assist the understanding and effective performance by the United Arab Emirates Central Bank’s (“CBUAE”) licensed financial institutions (“LFIs”) of their statutory obligations under the legal and regulatory framework in force in the UAE. It should be read in conjunction with the CBUAE’s Procedures for Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism and Illicit Organizations (issued by Notice No. 74/2019 dated 19/06/2019) and Guidelines on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism and Illicit Organizations for Financial Institutions (issued by Notice 79/2019 dated 27/06/2019) and any amendments or updates thereof.1 As such, while this Guidance neither constitutes additional legislation or regulation nor replaces or supersedes any legal or regulatory requirements or statutory obligations, it sets out the expectations of the CBUAE for LFIs to be able to demonstrate compliance with these requirements. In the event of a discrepancy between this Guidance and the legal or regulatory frameworks currently in force, the latter will prevail. This Guidance may be supplemented with additional separate guidance materials, such as outreach sessions and thematic reviews conducted by the CBUAE.

      Furthermore, this Guidance takes into account standards and guidance issued by the Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”), industry best practices and red flag indicators identified by the FATF. These are not exhaustive and do not set limitations on the measures to be taken by LFIs in order to meet their statutory obligations under the legal and regulatory framework currently in force. As such, LFIs should perform their own assessments of the manner in which they should meet their statutory obligations.

      This Guidance comes into effect immediately upon its issuance by the CBUAE with LFIs expected to demonstrate compliance with its requirements within one month from its coming into effect.

      1 Available at https://www.centralbank.ae/en/cbuae-amlcft.

    • 1.2. Applicability

      Unless otherwise noted, this guidance applies to all natural and legal persons, which are licensed and/or supervised by CBUAE, in the following categories:

       •National banks, branches of foreign banks, exchange houses, finance companies, stored value facilities, retail payment service providers, card schemes, registered hawala providers and other LFIs; and
       •Insurance and re-insurance companies, agencies, and brokers.

    • 1.4. Acronyms and Definitions

      Heads of International Organizations (HIO): Natural persons who are or have been entrusted with the management or any prominent function within an international organization.

      International Organizations: Entities established by formal political agreements between their Member States that have the status of international treaties; their existence is recognised by law in their member countries; and they are not treated as resident institutional units of the countries in which they are located. Examples of international organisations include the United Nations and affiliated international organisations; regional international organisations; military international organisations, and economic organisations.

      Politically Exposed Persons (PEP): Natural persons who are or have been entrusted with a prominent public function in the UAE or any other foreign country such as heads of states or governments, senior politicians, senior government officials, judicial or military officials, senior executive managers of state owned corporations, and senior officials of political parties, and persons who are, or have previously been, entrusted with the management of an international organisation or any prominent function within such an organisation; and the definition also includes the following:

       •Direct family members (of the PEP who are spouses, children, spouses of children, parents)
       •Associates known to be close to the PEP, which include:
        oIndividuals having joint ownership rights in a legal person or arrangement or any other close business relationship with the PEP;
        oIndividuals having individual ownership rights in a legal person or arrangement established in favor of the PEP.
       

      Related Customers: Customers that are the direct family members of a PEP or the associates known to be close to a PEP.