The Central Bank issues new guidelines on countering money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism
The Central Bank of the UAE has issued new guidelines regarding countering money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism for licensed exchange companies.
Khalid Mohammed Salem Balama Al Tamimi, Governor of the Central Bank of the UAE, said: "At the Central Bank, we perform our duties and our supervisory and supervisory responsibility in full compliance. We are also working to ensure that all licensed exchange companies in the UAE understand their responsibilities towards combating money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism, and have put in place effective programs To identify and mitigate the risks of these activities to their operations, and to fully comply with their legal obligations.”
The new guidelines, which will come into force as of today, contribute to the understanding of the risks and the effective implementation of the legal obligations of the licensed exchange companies in combating money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism.
These guidelines take into account the standards and guidelines issued by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and require authorized exchange firms to demonstrate compliance with the new requirements within one month from the date of their issuance.
The exchange sector is considered one of the vital sectors in terms of risks due to its great importance in the UAE, where these risks increase significantly as a result of its dealings in cash and cross-border payments.
The new guidelines stipulate that licensed exchange firms must rely on an effective program to combat money laundering and combat the financing of terrorism designed for the purposes of preventing the exploitation of this activity to facilitate money laundering or terrorist financing. The exchange business, including customers, products, services, delivery channels, new technologies, geographic risks, counterparties, and illicit financing.
At the same time, the results of the risk assessment of the authorized exchange firms should be in the interest of the overall policies of the program, procedures, internal controls and staff training, for effective risk reduction.
The Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism Program includes establishing a dedicated compliance department, conducting customer due diligence, continuously examining transactions, and fully complying with the UAE’s requirements regarding targeted financial sanctions and reporting suspicious transactions.
The Central Bank has recently issued guidance on the components of the program, which applies to all licensed financial institutions.
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