AML Regulations for CMA-Regulated Advisors and Promoters in UAE
AML UAE: Your Full-Suite AML Compliance Partner in the UAE
AML UAE provides end-to-end anti-money laundering compliance services in Dubai and across the UAE, helping financial institutions, DNFBPs and VASPs comply with Federal Decree-Law No. 10 of 2025 and Cabinet Resolution No. 134 of 2025. From AML/CFT policy documentation and business risk assessment to KYC, goAML reporting, training and software, CAMS-certified professionals handle the whole compliance lifecycle so you can focus on your business.
Your inspection notice does not wait for you to finish reading a 71-article regulation. AML UAE’s consultants translate the 2025 law into a working programme for your business: the policy your regulator expects, the risk assessment that fits your customers, the screening and reporting that actually get done. Compliance made easy, not compliance made heavier.
Serving UAE reporting entities since 2021
300+ regulated businesses supported across 15 sectors
4.8 Google rating from verified clients
Part of NIYEAHMA's AMLVerse, a global AML compliance ecosystem
AML UAE: AML Compliance Service Provider in UAE
AML UAE is an anti-money laundering compliance service provider focused exclusively on the UAE market since 2021. We design and implement AML/CFT programmes for financial institutions, DNFBPs and VASPs, sized to the risk, nature and scale of each business, and we work directly with your Compliance Officer or MLRO to keep them running.
Most compliance problems we see are not caused by bad intentions. They are caused by a policy copied from another company, a risk assessment done once and never revisited, and a compliance officer who is also the finance manager, the HR lead, and the person who locks up at night. AML UAE exists to take that weight off you.
We are dedicated to improving AML compliance in the UAE through practical consulting, not paperwork for its own sake. Every engagement starts with your licence type, your customers and your regulator, and ends with a programme your team can run day-to-day. You get peace of mind knowing your anti-money laundering compliance is handled by people who do nothing else.
AML UAE is part of NIYEAHMA’s AMLVerse, a global AML compliance ecosystem connecting consulting, regulatory knowledge, professionals, implementation frameworks and technology. That gives you a UAE-specialist team with a view of how the same obligations are handled in India, Singapore, Australia, the UK and Hong Kong.
Why businesses call us
- UAE-only AML specialists since 2021
- Programmes sized to your risk, nature and scale
- We work directly with your Compliance Officer or MLRO
- Part of NIYEAHMA's AMLVerse ecosystem
Who Must Comply with AML Regulations in the UAE?
Under Federal Decree-Law No. 10 of 2025, a “reporting entity” is any financial institution, Designated Non-Financial Business or Profession (DNFBP) or Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) operating in the UAE, including in commercial and financial free zones. If your business falls into any of these groups, the AML/CFT obligations apply to you, not only to banks.
Most businesses that call us do not think of themselves as “financial”. A gold trader in Deira, a real estate broker in Business Bay, an accounting firm in JLT. The law disagrees. Here is who is in scope, and where to start.
Financial Institutions
Banks, finance companies, exchange houses, insurers, payment providers and capital-market firms supervised by the CBUAE or the Capital Markets Authority. Expectations here are the highest: enterprise-wide risk assessment, policy, procedures, transaction monitoring, sanctions screening, PEP controls and an MLRO with real authority. We help you meet supervisory guidance without slowing down onboarding.
Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs)
Exchanges, custodians, brokers and other virtual asset businesses licensed by VARA in Dubai or the Capital Markets Authority elsewhere in the UAE. The 2025 law brings VASPs directly into the federal AML regime, with travel-rule, wallet-screening and licensing obligations layered on top of standard CDD. We build programmes that satisfy both the federal law and your licensing authority’s (VARA, CMA, FSRA, DFSA) rulebook.
Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions (DNFBPs)
Real estate agents and brokers, dealers in precious metals and stones (DPMS), auditors and accountants, trust and company service providers (TCSPs), lawyers and notaries, and commercial gaming operators. Supervised mainly by the Ministry of Economy and Tourism, the Ministry of Justice, and the General Commercial Gaming Authority (GCGRA). DNFBPs face the same core duties as banks: register on goAML, assess risk, maintain policies and procedures, verify customers and beneficial owners, screen against sanctions lists, provide training, conduct independent AML audits, and report suspicious transactions. This is where most UAE inspections and fines land.
Not sure which category you fall into, or whether a free zone licence changes anything? That is exactly what the free consultation is for.
AML Compliance Obligations Every UAE Reporting Entity Must Meet
Every reporting entity in the UAE must meet nine core AML/CFT obligations under Federal Decree-Law No. 10 of 2025 and Cabinet Resolution No. 134 of 2025: goAML registration, a business risk assessment, a written AML/CFT policy, customer due diligence, sanctions screening, ongoing monitoring, suspicious transaction reporting, record-keeping for at least five years, independent AML audit, and staff training under an appointed Compliance Officer or MLRO.
Use this as a quick self-check. If any row is a “no” or a “not sure”, that is where your inspection risk sits, and it is usually where we start.
Obligation
What the regulator expects to see
How AML UAE helps
1. Register on goAML
Active FIU portal registration with a named Compliance Officer
goAML Registration
goAML Reporting
2. Appoint a Compliance Officer / MLRO
A competent, empowered officer with board access
Documented, NRA-aligned methodology, refreshed at least annually
Business Risk Assessment
Approved by senior management, specific to your sector
Policy, Controls, and Procedures Documentation/AML Compliance Manual/AML Policy Manual
5. Customer due diligence and EDD
Identity, beneficial ownership, purpose of relationship, risk rating
Managed KYC and CDD Services
6. Targeted Financial Sanctions
Screening against UN and UAE Local Terrorist Lists, 24-hour freeze and report
Sanctions Compliance Policy and Procedures
Name Screening Software
Screening Software Testing and Validation
CNMR/PNMR Reporting on goAML Portal
7. Ongoing Monitoring Policy and Procedures
Transaction and relationship monitoring proportionate to risk
Managed KYC and CDD Services
Transaction Monitoring Software
8. goAML Reporting
Timely SAR, STR, DPMSR, REAR, CNMR, PNMR, HRC, HRCA reporting on the FIU goAML portal
Regulatory Reporting
9. Record-Keeping
Five Year Retention
AML Record Keeping Policy and Procedures
10. AML Training
Role-based training
Refresher training
Frontline staff training
Compliance team training
Top management training
Our AML Compliance Services in Dubai, UAE
AML UAE offers anti-money laundering compliance services covering the full lifecycle of a UAE AML programme: designing it, running it, testing it and keeping it current. Each service maps to a specific obligation under Federal Decree-Law No. 10 of 2025 and Cabinet Resolution No. 134 of 2025, and each can be taken alone or as part of a managed compliance package.
Our team of UAE AML compliance consultants, former compliance officers, financial analysts and RegTech specialists has one job: make your AML/CFT compliance inspection-ready and keep it that way. Here is the full list of AML regulatory compliance services we provide in Dubai and across the UAE.
Business Risk Assessment (Enterprise-Wide Risk Assessment)
The document every inspector asks for first. We assess your customer, product, delivery-channel and geographic risks, score them against the NRA and sector risk assessments, and give you a defensible methodology you can refresh every year.
AML/CFT Policy, Controls and Procedures Documentation
AML/CFT Policy, Controls and Procedures Documentation for your business, your customers and your risks, not a template with your logo on it. Aligned to the 2025 law, your supervisor’s guidelines and the UAE National Risk Assessment, and written so your staff can actually follow it.
Managed KYC and Customer Due Diligence Services
Onboarding checks, beneficial ownership identification, PEP and sanctions screening, adverse media checks, risk profiling, simplified, standard, and enhanced due diligence, handled by our team using your templates. You keep the customer relationship; we keep the file complete.
Regulatory Reporting (goAML Registration, STR and SAR Filing)
We register you on goAML, set up your reporting workflow, and support the drafting and filing of Suspicious Transaction Reports, Suspicious Activity Reports, Real Estate Activity Reports, Dealers in Precious Metals and Stones reports, High-Risk Country Report, High-Risk Country Activity Report, Confirmed Name Match Report and Partial Name Match Report within the deadlines the FIU expects.
In-House AML Compliance Department Setup and MLRO Support
From a one-person compliance function to a full department: role definitions, reporting lines, MLRO onboarding, board reporting, and the controls that make senior management oversight real rather than a signature on a policy.
Annual AML/CFT Risk Assessment Report
We collate information, prepare the response to the MoET Annual AML/CFT Risk Assessment Survey, and thoroughly review it to ensure it reflects your data and help you submit it to the supervisory authority.
AML/CFT Health Check (Independent Review)
A gap assessment of your existing AML framework against current UAE law and your supervisor’s expectations, with a prioritised fix list. Useful before an inspection, after a change in ownership, or when your last policy still cites the 2018 law.
AML Training for Staff, MLROs and Senior Management
Role-based sessions built around your sector’s red flags and real UAE typologies, with attendance records and assessments that satisfy the training obligation. Delivered in person in Dubai or online.
AML Software Selection
Independent help choosing screening, KYC, risk assessment, and transaction monitoring tools that fit your volume and budget, plus implementation support to ensure the software aligns with your policy rather than contradicting it.
AML Screening Software Testing and Validation
We test whether your name-screening and sanctions tools actually catch what they should: fuzzy matching, list coverage, threshold settings, and alert handling, documented for your regulator.
AML Software for UAE Reporting Entities
AML UAE also helps with AML software for UAE businesses: name screening, KYC and customer onboarding, risk assessment, transaction monitoring, regulatory reporting and combined fraud-and-AML (FRAML) tools, selected and configured to match the AML programme we design for you.
Policy on paper is only half the obligation. The 2025 regulations expect screening, monitoring and record-keeping to happen every day, at volume, with an audit trail. Our software range covers each control, and because the same team writes your policy and configures your tool, thresholds and workflows match your documented procedures.
Tool
What it does for you
Sanctions, PEP and adverse media screening with UAE, UNSC, and global watchlist coverage
Digital identity checks, document capture, document verification, KYC, KYB, and CDD file management
Risk-based onboarding journeys with built-in screening
Confirms the person is real and present during remote onboarding
Customer risk scoring aligned to your CRA methodology
Structured business risk assessment with year-on-year comparison
Rule-based alerts on unusual transactions and patterns
Prepares and tracks goAML reports and deadlines
Fraud and AML detection in one platform
Anti-financial-crime suite for larger institutions
UAE AML Regulatory Framework We Help You Comply With
AML/CFT compliance in the UAE is governed by Federal Decree-Law No. 10 of 2025 (in force 14 October 2025) and its Executive Regulations, Cabinet Resolution No. 134 of 2025 (in force 14 December 2025), which together replaced Federal Decree-Law No. 20 of 2018 and Cabinet Resolution No. 10 of 2019. Sector supervisors issue guidance on top, and every reporting entity files through the FIU’s goAML portal.
If your AML policy, risk assessment or training deck still cites the 2018 law, it is out of date. Here is the framework we work to, and keep current for you.
Instrument
What it covers
Why it matters to you
Primary AML/CFT/CPF statute: offences, supervisory powers, FIU freezing powers, penalties
Defines who is a reporting entity and what happens when obligations are breached
Executive Regulations: 71 articles on CDD, EDD, risk assessment, beneficial ownership, record-keeping, STR filing, VASP controls
The operative rulebook your policy and procedures must mirror
Cabinet Resolution No. 74 of 2020
Targeted Financial Sanctions: UN and UAE Local Terrorist List screening, freezing and reporting
Screening and 24-hour freeze and report duties for every entity, including DNFBPs
Cabinet Resolutions No. 109 and 132 of 2023
Real beneficiary procedures and administrative penalties for UBO breaches
Your UBO register and the checks you run on customers’ owners
Cabinet Resolution No. 71 of 2024
Administrative penalty schedule for DNFBPs supervised by MoET and MoJ
The fine table inspectors apply to real estate, DPMS, accountants, TCSPs and lawyers
Supervisory guidance
CBUAE, Capital Markets Authority (formerly SCA), Ministry of Economy and Tourism, Ministry of Justice, VARA, DFSA, FSRA, ADGM RA, GCGRA
Sector-specific expectations on top of federal law; Financial free-zone entities follow their own rulebooks plus federal law
The FIU’s registration and reporting platform
Mandatory registration and the channel for STR, SAR, DPMSR, PNMR and CNMR.
Last reviewed on 28 September 2026 by the AML UAE compliance team.
AML Compliance Across the UAE: Mainland, Commercial Free Zones, DIFC and ADGM
AML UAE serves reporting entities licensed on the UAE mainland, in commercial free zones such as DMCC, JAFZA, DAFZA and IFZA, and in the financial free zones DIFC and ADGM. Federal AML law applies everywhere in the UAE; DIFC and ADGM entities also follow the DFSA and FSRA rulebooks, and Dubai VASPs follow VARA.
A financial free zone licence does not take you out of scope. It usually adds a second layer: the federal law plus your free zone or financial regulator’s own AML rules, notices and thematic reviews. We map both layers for you so one policy satisfies every authority that can inspect you.
Where you are licensed
Who supervises your AML compliance
What changes for you
1. UAE mainland (DNFBP)
Ministry of Economy and Tourism or Ministry of Justice
MoET and MoJ guidelines, circulars and the CR 71/2024 penalty schedule
2. UAE mainland (financial institution)
CBUAE or Capital Markets Authority
Sector guidance, thematic reviews and annual regulatory returns
3. Commercial free zones (DMCC, JAFZA, DAFZA, IFZA and others)
Federal supervisors, with free zone registrar checks on UBO and licensing
Federal law applies in full; registrar may request AML evidence at renewal
4. DIFC
Dubai Financial Services Authority
DFSA AML Module on top of federal law
5. ADGM
Financial Services Regulatory Authority or ADGM RA
FSRA AML Rulebook and FCCP notices on top of federal law
6. Dubai VASPs
Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority
VARA Compliance and Risk Management Rulebook plus federal law
Why AML Compliance Matters Now: The Cost of Non-Compliance in the UAE
Non-compliance with UAE AML law now carries administrative fines of up to AED 5 million per violation under Federal Decree-Law No. 10 of 2025, alongside licence suspension, personal liability for managers and compliance officers, and criminal penalties of up to AED 100 million for legal persons convicted of money laundering, terrorist financing or proliferation financing offences.
The conversation with your regulator has changed. Before October 2025 many DNFBPs treated AML as a registration exercise. The new law makes it an operating condition. Four facts worth knowing before your next inspection:
01
Penalties scaled up.
Criminal fines for money laundering, terrorist financing or proliferation financing can now reach AED 100 million for a convicted legal person, a step change from the 2018 regime, and administrative fines for compliance failures can reach AED 5 million per violation. The FIU’s powers to freeze funds were also extended. (Federal Decree-Law No. 10 of 2025, in force 14 October 2025.)
02
71 articles of enforceable requirements.
Cabinet Resolution No. 134 of 2025, the Executive Regulations, runs to 71 articles covering CDD, EDD, risk assessment, beneficial ownership, record-keeping, STR filing and VASP controls. Each unmet requirement is a separate finding on an inspection report. (In force 14 December 2025.)
03
Managers are personally on the hook.
The 2025 law sharpens liability for senior management and compliance officers who fail to implement controls, so “the consultant handled it” is not a defence.
04
DNFBPs have their own fine table.
Cabinet Resolution No. 71 of 2024 sets a penalty schedule for MoET- and MoJ-supervised DNFBPs, from failure to register on goAML to gaps in CDD and record-keeping. Inspections of real estate, DPMS, accountants and TCSPs have intensified since.
The cost of compliance is a line item. The cost of a violation is a headline.
Book a free consultation and find out where your framework stands before an inspector does.
Why Choose AML UAE as Your AML Compliance Consultants
AML UAE is a UAE-focused anti-money laundering consultancy founded in 2021 and part of NIYEAHMA’s AMLVerse, serving financial institutions, DNFBPs and VASPs with sector-specific compliance frameworks, a 4.8 Google rating and consultants who work directly with your MLRO.
UAE AML is all we do
We are not an audit firm with an AML desk. Every consultant works only on UAE AML/CFT, which means we read every MoET circular, FIU notice and CBUAE guidance the week it lands, and your policy reflects it the month after.
Consultants, not a call centre
Your consultation is with a partner-level consultant, and the same person stays on your file. No handover to a junior team after the contract is signed, and no ticket queue when your regulator writes to you.
Built for your sector, not copied from a bank
A gold refinery’s red flags are not a real estate brokerage’s. We maintain sector playbooks for DPMS, real estate, accountants and auditors, TCSPs, lawyers, insurers, exchange houses, capital-market firms and VASPs, and every deliverable starts from the right one.
Consulting and software from one team
We write the policy and we configure the screening tool, so the thresholds in your software match the procedures in your manual. That alignment is the first thing an inspector tests and the most common place programmes fail.
Our Trusted AML Experts
AML UAE’s consulting team is led by Chartered Accountants and Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (CAMS) with more than a decade each in regulatory compliance, and a founder with 28 years in governance, risk and compliance. Between them they have delivered well over 1000 AML/CFT frameworks for UAE and international clients.
These are the people who will read your risk assessment, write your policy and sit beside your MLRO during an inspection.
Pathik Shah
Founder · FCA, CAMS, CISA, CS, DISA (ICAI), FAFP (ICAI)
Chartered Accountant with over 28 years in governance, risk and compliance. Leads enterprise-wide risk assessments and AML framework design, and has served as functional expert on RegTech solutions that automate compliance. A regular speaker and author on AML/CFT and FATF standards.
Jyoti Maheshwari
Partner · CAMS, ACA
Chartered Accountant and Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist with 11+ years in regulatory compliance, legal advisory, policy-making and technology implementation. Specialises in risk assessment and mitigation design across multiple AML jurisdictions.
Dipali Vora
Partner · CAMS, ACS
Associate member of ICSI and Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist with 10+ years in compliance, due diligence and secretarial audit. Specialises in enterprise-wide risk assessment, customer due diligence and sanctions programmes.
Monika Shah
Partner · CAMS
Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist with hands-on experience across the full AML/CFT lifecycle, including MLRO functions. Has delivered more than 100 AML/CFT frameworks across precious metals, real estate, legal, accounting, corporate services and virtual asset sectors, and authored over 50 pieces on typologies and red flags.
Garima Jhanwar
AML Specialist · ACA
Supports clients with customer due diligence, sanctions compliance, regulatory reporting, and AML software selection, configuration and implementation. Delivers role-based training and assists with consultations and client onboarding across the DPMS, TCSP, legal, accounting, real estate and virtual asset sectors.
Arpi Porwal
AML Specialist · Lawyer
Supports DNFBP clients with ML/TF/PF risk assessments, the drafting of policies, procedures and controls, KYC and CDD file management, sanctions compliance, customer risk assessments, survey submissions and AML training delivery. Also assists clients in implementing compliance measures and addressing gaps in their day-to-day AML/CFT/CPF processes.
What Our Clients Say: AML Consulting Services Testimonials
AML UAE holds a 4.8 rating on Google from verified clients in real estate, dealers in precious metals and stones, capital markets and corporate services, many of whom came to us before an inspection or immediately after a regulatory notice.
We would rather you hear it from the people who have been through an inspection with us.
“During the preparation for my recent inspection, the team demonstrated exceptional attention to detail and made sure that everything was perfectly in order.”
Daniil Soldatov, Sold Out Real Estate
“Highly knowledgeable and always up to date with the latest AML regulations, ensuring our compliance framework is strong and effective.”
Hiten Chitroda, Tasmi Jewels LLC
“Jyoti helped me so much when trying to arrange the AML/CFT policies and procedures for our company in Dubai. She talked me through all of it and offered support each step of the way.”
Nathalie Barker, Cagau FZCO
“Provided invaluable support in refining our AML practices. Their expertise and thoroughness significantly improved our AML compliance.”
Rola Eldana, Al Mal Capital
“Helped us kick-start our engagement with the regulatory authorities and provided exceptional AML consultation, offering clear guidance and solutions tailored to our needs as a bullion business.”
Warren Pereira, Namoh Gold Refinery FZC
“Very hands on and very professional. They take care of all the struggles a company in UAE may face related to AML.”
Dev Minerals FZCO
4.8 Google rating · Reviews from real estate, DPMS, capital markets and corporate service providers ·
How We Work: Our AML Compliance Process
AML UAE’s compliance process runs in five steps: gap assessment, business risk assessment, programme design, implementation and training, then ongoing support and annual review. Most DNFBPs are inspection-ready within weeks of the first call, and every step produces a document you own.
01
Gap assessment. A free consultation, then a review of your licence, customer base and existing documents against the 2025 law and your supervisor’s guidance. You get a written list of what is missing and what is exposed.
02
Business risk assessment. We score your customer, product, channel and geographic risks against the UAE National Risk Assessment and your sector’s risk assessment, and set the risk appetite the rest of the programme follows.
03
Programme design. Policy, procedures, CDD and EDD forms, screening thresholds, escalation and STR workflow, all written for your business and signed off by your senior management.
04
Implementation and training. goAML registration, software configuration, MLRO onboarding and role-based training for staff and management, with records kept for the inspector.
05
Ongoing support and annual review. Regulatory updates applied as they land, KYC handled on demand, and the annual AML/CFT risk assessment report delivered before your supervisor asks for it.
If you stop after step one, you still leave with a clear picture of your exposure.
What Happens in Your Free AML Consultation
The free AML consultation is a 30 to 45 minute call with an AML UAE partner. You describe your licence, customers and current controls; we tell you which obligations apply, where the gaps are, and what a fixed-fee programme would cost. There is no obligation and no follow-up sales sequence.
Bring your trade licence and whatever AML documents you have, even if they are old. Here is how the call runs:
01. Before the call
You fill in the short form (sector, emirate, company). A consultant, not a sales rep, reviews it and sends any regulator notices or guidance relevant to your licence type.
02. On the call
We confirm your reporting-entity category and supervisor, walk through the ten core obligations against what you have today, and flag anything that would be an immediate inspection finding.
03. After the call
Within one working day you receive a written summary of the gaps, a prioritised list of what to fix first and a fixed-fee proposal you can accept, adapt or ignore.
AML Compliance in Dubai and the UAE: Industries We Serve
AML UAE provides AML compliance services to banks and finance companies, insurers, exchange houses, auditors and accountants, real estate agents and brokers, dealers in precious metals and stones, company and trust service providers, lawyers and notaries, capital-market firms and virtual asset service providers across mainland UAE, commercial free zones, DIFC and ADGM.
Banks and financial companies (CBUAE-supervised)
Insurance providers
Exchange houses and payment providers
Auditors and accountants
Real estate agents and brokers
Dealers in precious metals and stones (DPMS)
Company and trust service providers (TCSPs)
Lawyers, notaries and legal practitioners
Capital-market and investment management firms
Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs)
Each sector has its own supervisor, red flags and penalty exposure. Tell us your licence type and we will tell you which rulebook applies.
AML Knowledge Hub
AML UAE publishes free guides, checklists, toolkits and weekly updates on UAE AML law, written by the same consultants who advise regulated businesses, so you can check your own compliance before you call us.
Resource
Type
eBook (PDF)
Pillar guide
Self-assessment
Templates and tools
Deadlines
Our three most recent articles appear here automatically.
Frequently Asked Questions About AML Compliance in the UAE
AML compliance in the UAE means meeting the obligations in Federal Decree-Law No. 10 of 2025 and Cabinet Resolution No. 134 of 2025: registering on goAML, assessing money laundering and terrorist financing risk, verifying customers and beneficial owners, screening against sanctions lists, monitoring transactions, keeping records and reporting suspicious activity to the UAE Financial Intelligence Unit.
Federal Decree-Law No. 10 of 2025 on Anti-Money Laundering, Combating the Financing of Terrorism and Proliferation Financing is the primary law, in force since 14 October 2025. Its Executive Regulations, Cabinet Resolution No. 134 of 2025, took effect on 14 December 2025 and replaced Cabinet Resolution No. 10 of 2019. Sector supervisors add their own guidance.
A Designated Non-Financial Business or Profession is a non-bank business the law treats as a reporting entity: real estate agents and brokers, dealers in precious metals and stones, auditors and accountants, trust and company service providers, lawyers and notaries handling client transactions, and commercial gaming operators. DNFBPs carry the same core AML duties as financial institutions.
Yes. Every financial institution, DNFBP and VASP in the UAE must register on the FIU’s goAML portal before it can file Suspicious Transaction Reports, Suspicious Activity Reports, DPMS reports or Fund Freeze reports. Operating without registration is itself a breach and appears in the DNFBP administrative penalty schedule under Cabinet Resolution No. 71 of 2024.
Administrative fines for compliance failures can reach AED 5 million per violation under Federal Decree-Law No. 10 of 2025, alongside licence suspension or cancellation, publication of the breach and personal liability for managers and compliance officers. Money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing are separate criminal offences, carrying fines of up to AED 100 million for a convicted legal person. DNFBPs also face a specific administrative penalty schedule under Cabinet Resolution No. 71 of 2024.
An AML consultant assesses your business’s money laundering and terrorist financing risk, writes the AML/CFT policy and procedures your supervisor expects, sets up KYC, screening and goAML reporting, trains your staff and MLRO, and reviews the programme every year. AML UAE’s consultants also select and configure AML software so daily controls match the written policy.
Yes. Federal Decree-Law No. 10 of 2025 applies to every reporting entity in the UAE, including companies licensed in commercial free zones such as DMCC, JAFZA and IFZA. Entities in DIFC and ADGM follow the DFSA and FSRA AML rulebooks in addition to federal law, and Dubai VASPs follow VARA. A free zone licence adds a layer of rules; it never removes one.
A Business Risk Assessment, also called an Enterprise-Wide Risk Assessment, is the documented evaluation of your exposure to money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing across customers, products, delivery channels and geographies. Cabinet Resolution No. 134 of 2025 requires it to be kept current; UAE supervisors expect a review at least annually and whenever your business changes materially.
Cost depends on your sector, customer volume and how much of the programme you outsource. A policy and risk assessment package for a small DNFBP is priced differently from managed KYC for an exchange house. The first consultation is free and ends with a fixed-fee proposal, so you know the number before you commit.
Find out where your AML framework stands before your regulator does.
Book a free consultation with an AML UAE specialist. You will leave with a clear view of what applies to your business under the 2025 law and a prioritised list of what to fix first. No sales deck, no obligation.
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