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Article (7): Issuing Certificates to Customers Within 7 Working Days

  1. A routine function of all banks in the UAE is to provide their customers with liability statements and clearance letters, otherwise known as a certificate, within 7 working days of the customer’s application.
     
  2. The purpose of the certificate is to provide confirmation of the customer’s financial position with the bank to enable the customer to rely on the confirmation for personal reasons or to terminate their financial relationship with the bank and to move their account to another bank.
     
  3. Article 9 (b) of Regulation No. 29/2011 states that “Commercial banks may open all types of accounts for their customers, but in such cases, they must abide by the standard agreement mentioned under Article (12) [Conditions for Opening of Accounts, Providing Credit Cards and Granting Loans & Bank Facilities] of these Regulations. In case a customer requested closing of the account and termination of the business relationship with the bank, the bank should do that without imposing a penalty if the account opening date goes back to more than one year. In all cases, an account must be closed and an appropriate certificate must be issued within, maximum, seven days (7) from date of submission of the application”
     
  4. In addition, Central Bank Circular No. 13/189/2013 dated 2 December 2013 states that “As a normal banking practice, issuance and delivery of certificates and letters should not take more than 7 working days”.
     
  5. Accordingly, banks are required to provide certificates to their customers within 7 working days of the customer’s request. For the purposes of this Article, customers are retail customers, not corporate customers.
     
  6. Failure by the bank to issue the certificate within the requisite period is a violation and will result in a fine of AED 10,000 for each violation.
     
  7. A daily rate of AED 10,000 will be applied for the delay of each working day that continues after the initial violation with a maximum threshold of AED 100,000 for each violation.