3.5 Money Laundering
Effective from 13/7/2023(AML-CFT Law Articles 2.1-3, 4, 29.3, AML-CFT Decision Article 1)
The AML-CFT Law defines money laundering as engaging in any of the following acts wilfully, having knowledge that the funds are the proceeds of a felony or a misdemeanour (i.e., a predicate offence):
| • | Transferring or moving proceeds or conducting any transaction with the aim of concealing or disguising their Illegal source; |
| • | Concealing or disguising the true nature, source or location of the proceeds as well as the method involving their disposition, movement, ownership of or rights with respect to said proceeds; |
| • | Acquiring, possessing or using proceeds upon receipt; |
| • | Assisting the perpetrator of the predicate offense to escape punishment. |
Both the AML-CFT Law and the AML-CFT Decision define “funds” in a very broad sense as “assets in whatever form, whether tangible, intangible, movable or immovable including national currency, foreign currencies, documents or notes evidencing the ownership of those assets or associated rights in any forms including electronic or digital forms or any interests, profits or income originating or earned from these assets.” They likewise define “proceeds” as “funds generated directly or indirectly from the commitment of any crime or felony including profits, privileges, and economic interests, or any similar funds converted wholly or partly into other funds.”
Therefore, in order to be considered money laundering, it is not necessary for any of the above-stipulated acts to involve only money or monetary instruments per se, but any number of tangible or intangible assets such as, but not limited to:
| • | Funds bank or other financial accounts, including so-called virtual or crypto currencies; |
| • | Financial instruments or securities, such as shares, bonds, notes, commercial paper, promissory notes, IOUs, share warrants, options, rights (including land rights), or other transferrable securities or bearer negotiable instruments; |
| • | Contracts, loan instruments, titles, claims, insurance policies, or their assignment; |
| • | Intellectual property (including but not limited to patents or registered trademarks), royalties, licenses, or the rights thereto; |
| • | Physical property, including but not limited to commodities, land, precious metals and stones, motor vehicles or vessels, works of art, or any other goods exchanged as payment-in-kind. |
The size or monetary value of the financial or commercial transaction, the timeframe during which it took place, and the nature of the funds or proceeds (whether in liquid funds or some other tangible or intangible asset) are irrelevant to the suspicion and reporting of a suspicious transaction.
The AML-CFT Law designates money laundering as a criminal offence. Its prosecution is independent of that of any predicate offence to which it is related or from which the proceeds are derived. The suspicion of money laundering is not dependent on proving that a predicate offence has actually occurred or on proving the illicit source of the proceeds involved, but can be inferred from certain information, including indicators or behavioural patterns.
According to the 2018 National Risk Assessment, professional third-party money laundering has been identified as one of the top ML/FT threats in the UAE.