Al-Eqtisadiah announces a list of violations and fines in relation to countering money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism
According to Cabinet Decision No. (16) of 2021 regarding the unified list of violations and administrative fines prescribed for violators of anti-money laundering and combating terrorist financing procedures subject to the supervision of the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Economy announced the list of violations consisting of 26 violations related to the activities of the business sector and specific non-financial professions Supervised by the Ministry with regard to the issue of combating money laundering and combating the regulation of terrorism, in accordance with the provisions of Federal Decree-Law No. 20 of 2018 regarding countering money laundering crimes, combating the financing of terrorism and financing illegal organizations, and its implementing regulations and relevant decisions.
These activities cover four main categories: brokers, real estate agents, dealers of precious metals and gemstones, auditors, and corporate service providers.
The Ministry called on companies in the targeted activities and works to intensify their efforts by enhancing awareness and knowledge of the risks of money laundering and keeping pace with the government's efforts in this file, and at the forefront of the required steps is registration in the system of the financial information unit (goAML) and the system of the Committee for Goods and Materials subject to import and export control (the automatic reporting system for lists Penalties), and taking measures related to the two systems in accordance with the provisions of the Decree-Law, its implementing regulations, and the relevant decisions.
The ministry stated that the grace period for registration in the two systems is extended until March 31, 2021, and that companies that do not register before this date will be subject to penalties, including suspension of the license and closure of the facility.
The Ministry also stressed the importance of following up on post-registration procedures and measures to avoid the fines contained in Cabinet Resolution No. 16 of 2021, which start from 50 thousand dirhams and reach one million dirhams and can be doubled to 5 million dirhams based on the provisions of the law and according to the discretion of the Supreme Committee to Combat Money Laundering and Combat Terrorism financing and illegal organizations financing.
Safia Al-Safi, Director of the Anti-Money Laundering Department at the Ministry, indicated that the administration is committed to answering the inquiries of all stakeholders and helping the target companies to achieve the requirements of the law, by receiving their calls on the ministry’s call center number 800-1222 .. She also called on the concerned companies to set policies, procedures and controls internal to
avoid the
risk of
money laundering according to the
steps and measures that clarified the
executive regulations of the
law, which can be accessed through the
official website of the
Ministry of
economy on the
link:
Https://www.economy.gov.ae/arabic/AML/Pages/default.aspx
explained that net The Cabinet's decision on irregularities supports the state's efforts in the file of combating money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism, and enhances the level of compliance in the business sector and non-financial professions specified by the provisions of the law and its executive regulations, in a way that contributes to raising the capacity of the national economy to achieve healthy and sustainable growth, and reflects the keenness of the UAE Under the guidance of its wise leadership, to continuously develop its economic legislation to enhance its competitiveness as a safe and stable international destination for business.
She affirmed the Ministry of Economy’s commitment to strengthening partnership with private sector companies and establishments that are included in the specific business sector and non-financial professions, and that cooperation by the targeted companies is a pivotal step to avoid them falling into the violations stipulated in the resolution, and at the same time supports the state file and its procedures in the face of money laundering and combating money laundering. Terrorism financing and consolidates its rating on relevant global indicators
The list of violations mentioned in the Cabinet Resolution included 3 items with a fine of one million dirhams, and they are as follows: 1- Dealing with fictitious banks in any way. 2- Opening or maintaining bank accounts with pseudonyms, fictitious or fictitious names or numbers. Without the names of their owners, 3 - failure to take measures pertaining to clients listed in international or local sanctions lists before establishing or continuing a business relationship.
The list included 5 violations, with a fine of 200,000 dirhams, which are: 1- Failure to take enhanced due diligence measures to manage high risks, 2- Failure to notify the Financial Information Unit of a suspicious transaction report when it is not possible to take due diligence measures towards a client before establishing a business relationship with him or Continuing with it or carrying out a process for the benefit of the customer or in his name, 3- Failure to respond to the additional information requested by the Financial Information Unit regarding what has been reported from the suspicious transaction report, 4- Disclosure, directly or indirectly, to the customer or to others about reporting on the customer or the intention in Reporting it on suspicion of the nature of the business relationship with him, 5 - Failure to apply the measures set by the National Committee to Combat Money Laundering with regard to clients from high-risk countries.
The decision listed 7 violations of 100,000 dirhams, namely: 1- Failure to take the necessary measures to determine the risks of crime in his field of work, 2- Failure to identify and assess the risks that may arise in his field of work when he develops the services he provides or undertakes new professional practices through 3- Failure to take due diligence measures towards clients before establishing or continuing a business relationship or carrying out a process in the name of or for the benefit of the client, 4- Failure to verify - using documents or data from a reliable and independent source - of the identity of the customer and the real beneficiary or their deputy before establishing Business relationship or account opening or during them, or before carrying out a transaction for a client with whom he has no existing business relationship, 5- Delay in informing the Financial Information Unit of a suspicious transaction report if there is suspicion or there are reasonable grounds to suspect that the business relationship with the client is linked to the crime in whole or in part. Or that the client’s money that is the subject of the business relationship from the proceeds of a crime or was used in it, 6- Failure to apply due diligence measures towards politically exposed clients before establishing or continuing a business relationship, 7- Not creating records to keep financial transactions
P clients.
The decision stated 11 violations of 50 thousand dirhams, namely: 1 - Failure to take the necessary measures and procedures to reduce the identified risks according to the results of the national risk assessment, or to the results of the self-assessment in view of the nature and volume of its work, 2- Failure to establish internal policies, procedures and controls at his facility aimed at combating committing Crime or involvement in a suspicious work relationship, 3- Failure to take simplified due diligence measures to manage low risks, 4- Failure to take necessary measures to understand the purpose and nature of the business relationship, or did not seek to obtain information related to this purpose when needed, 5- Failure to take the necessary measures To understand the nature of the client's business, the ownership structure of his business and the extent of the client's control over it, 6 - failure to take due diligence measures for continuous monitoring towards customers during the business relationship, 7 - not to appoint a compliance officer, 8- Create records to save financial transactions with clients in an irregular manner that does not allow By analyzing data and tracking financial operations, 9- Not keeping records of financial transactions, documents and documents related to them for a period of five years from the date of the completion of the process or the termination of the business relationship with the customer or
From the date of the end of the inspection process on his facility, 10- Failure to provide information related to due diligence towards clients and continuous monitoring and the results of their analysis, as well as records, files, documents, correspondence and forms related to them to the concerned authorities upon their request, 11- Failure to train workers at his facility on facing money laundering and combating financing Terror.
Concerning the administrative fines and the grievance mechanism, the decision stipulated that the ministry notify the violator of the non-financial business and professions specified by the administrative fine decision signed on him within 15 days from the date of its issuance, and the violator has the right to file a grievance against the administrative fine decision to the minister or whoever delegates him within 15 days of The date of his notification of the decision or his knowledge of it, and the minister takes one of the following three measures when examining the subject of the grievance: 1- Confirming the prescribed administrative fine if the reasons and justifications are found to be correct, 2- Replacing the prescribed administrative fine with another penalty according to the nature of the violation and in line with the law and its executive regulations, 3- Canceling the fine if the reasons for the violation have been removed or incorrect.
The decision on the grievance is considered final, and failure to respond to the grievance within 30 days from the date of its submission is considered a rejection of the grievance, and the appeal against the decision of the administrative fine signed prior to the grievance and its rejection, or the deadline for responding to it is not accepted.
It is worth noting that the Ministry of Economy recently launched an awareness and monitoring campaign to encourage the business sector and specific non-financial professions registered in the UAE to register in the financial information unit (goAML) system and the committee for goods and materials subject to import and export control (the automatic reporting system for sanctions lists), and to take related measures The two regulations stipulated in the articles of Federal Law No. 20 of 2018 regarding countering money laundering crimes, combating the financing of terrorism and the financing of illegal organizations, and its implementing regulations and related decisions.
The steps for registering in the goAML system can be found via the following link:
https://www.economy.gov.ae/arabic/AML/Pages/goAML-registration.aspx
With regard to the automatic reporting system for sanctions lists, the following link explains the steps for registration in it:
https://www.economy.gov.ae/arabic/AML/Pages/circulars-notices.aspx
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