Real estate agents and brokers in the UAE are required to be licensed. The Land Departments or municipality of each emirate and CFZ are responsible for granting licenses in the Mainland and CFZs; the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) and Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) license real estate agents in the FFZs.

Under Article 3 of AML-CFT Decision, real estate agents and brokers qualify as DNFBPs when they “conclude operations for the benefit of their Customers with respect to the purchase and sale of real estate." When they qualify as DNFBPs, real estate agents and brokers must comply with the same AML/CFT preventive measures as LFIs, including the requirements to conduct a risk assessment, perform CDD, and report suspicious transactions.

The Ministry of Economy supervises real estate professionals in the mainland and CFZs for compliance with AML/CFT obligations, and the FSRA and DFSA supervises them in the FFZs. The Ministry of Economy has issued guidelines for supervised entities describing their AML/CFT compliance obligations.⁴

⁴ These guidelines may be found at https://www.economy.gov.ae/english/Pages/AML.aspx.