UAE imposes Dh3.5-million fine against exchange house

The UAE has imposed a penalty of Dh3.5 million on an exchange house, the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) announced on Monday.

The financial sanction was imposed pursuant to Article (14) of the Federal Decree Law No. (20) of 2018 on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism and Illegal Organisations and its amendments.

The sanction comes after an investigation revealed that the exchange house failed to comply with AML/CFT policies and procedures.

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The authority works to ensure that all banks and their staff in the country abide by UAE’s law, regulations and standards established by the CBUAE to maintain transparency of financial transactions and safeguard the country’s financial system.

On May 29, an exchange house was hit with a Dh100-million fine after “significant failures” were found in the examinations conducted by the authority.

A day before, the authority imposed a hefty penalty of over Dh18 million against two branches of foreign banks operating inside the country.

In an earlier incident last month, the authority slapped a Dh200 million fine on an exchange house after uncovering major violations of anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing regulations. A branch manager was also fined Dh500,000 and permanently barred from holding any role at licensed financial institutions in the country.

Meanwhile on March 25, five banks and two insurance companies operating in the UAE were penalised for non-compliance with tax rules. Financial sanctions totalling Dh2,621,000 were imposed by the Central Bank on the banks and insurance companies for failing to report procedures required by the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) and Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) guidelines.

On August of 2024, the UAE issued a federal decree amending certain provisions of the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism law by establishing committees to overlook the same. The new move is aimed at developing the legislative and legal structure of the nation to ensure compliance with international standards.