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Article (6): License Conditions

2/2024 Issued on 14/6/2024
1.

To be granted a License, an Applicant shall, at the time of submitting an Application:

a)fulfil the legal form requirement as set out in Article (74) of the Central Bank Law;
b)meet the respective initial capital requirements specified in Article (13) to (15); and
c)provide the necessary documents and information specified in the Central Bank application form as provided by the Licensing Division.
2.The Applicant must be a company incorporated in the UAE, including free zones but excluding Financial Free Zones
3.

An Applicant must meet, or demonstrate that it will meet upon License issuance, the ongoing requirements set out in Article (12) to Article (36), to the extent applicable to the License category for which it has applied, in particular:

a)The requirements regarding regulatory capital as set out in Article (13) to Article (15). The Central Bank may add additional requirements regarding regulatory capital or increase the existing ones as a condition for License issuance, where it considers such additional requirements necessary;
b)The requirements regarding corporate governance, general risk management and internal control, and accounting system as set out in Article (34). In particular, the Board, the Senior Management, and the Controller(s) must have been approved by the Central Bank as fit and proper in the context of the Application before the License is granted;
c)The requirements regarding risk management policies and procedures for the management and protection of the Reserve of Assets, as set out in Article (22);
d)The requirements regarding technology and specific risk management policies and procedures for managing the risks arising from the operation of the Payment Token business, as set out in Article (34) and Article (35);
e)The requirements regarding business conduct and Customer protection as set out in Article (25) to Article (32); and
f)The requirements regarding anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism, as set out in Article (24).
4.As part of the licensing process, separate face-to-face meetings between Central Bank staff and the Applicant’s and the Applicant’s Controllers’ Boards and the Senior Management may be conducted.

 

Independent assessments

5.

The Applicant is required to submit an independent assessment report not older than six (6) months assessing how it will comply with Article (6)3, covering at least the following key areas:

a)capital requirements;
b)corporate governance and risk management;
c)Reserve of Assets management;
d)technology risk management;
e)payment security management;
f)business continuity management;
g)business conduct and Customer protection; and
h)AML/CFT control systems.
6.The Applicant must appoint one or more competent and qualified assessor(s), which are independent from the business units of the Applicant, to carry out the independent assessments. The assessors must not be involved in the operations to be reviewed or in selecting or implementing the relevant control measures to be reviewed, must have relevant knowledge and experience, and must be able to report their findings independently. They must also confirm to the Central Bank that there is no conflict of interest in the conduct of independent assessments.
7.An Applicant for Payment Token Issuing shall, at the time of submitting an Application, provide a list of all Payment Tokens that it intends to issue. The Central Bank may require that the Applicant obtain a legal opinion for all Payment Tokens assessing whether the Payment Tokens and the operations of the Payment Token Issuer comply with Central Bank regulations including but not limited to whether the White Paper is accurate and the Reserve of Assets is properly held.