The ADGM’s Financial Service Regulatory Authority (FSRA) mandates the Authorized Person conducting the Regulated Activities in or from the Abu Dhabi Global Market must comply with the AML regulations.

Here is an infographic discussing the Regulated Activities as defined under Financial Service Market Regulations 2015, qualifying the entity to be treated as AML-regulated entity or a “Relevant Person” as per the FSRA AML Rulebook.

Authorized Persons having Financial Service Permission to conduct regulated activities shall comply with the FSRA-issued AML Rulebook and Federal AML/CFT laws.

AML UAE, as a leading AML consultancy firm, can assist you in exploring the applicability of AML and help you implement a comprehensive AML framework compliant with ADGM’s FSRA AML regulations.

The UAE AML regulations mandate that the regulated entities – DNFBPs, VASPs, and Financial Institutions – assess the money laundering and terrorism financing risk each customer poses to the business and adopt a risk-based approach to mitigate the same. Here, the AML law provides for applying Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) measures when the customer is identified as exposing high ML/FT risk.

Here is an infographic discussing the key merits that the EDD process has to offer to regulated businesses:

1. One of the EDD measures is to make detailed inquiries about the customer’s identity. Thus, EDD helps in understanding the customer’s structure, and if the legal structure of the customer appears to be complex, EDD allows decoding whether the complexity of the structure is legitimate or deliberately created to obscure the identity of the Ultimate Beneficial Owners (UBOs).
2. The EDD process involves identifying the customer’s source of funds and source of wealth and establishing the legitimacy of the same based on reliable sources. Here, EDD helps the entity determine whether the funds involved in the transaction and its associated wealth are legitimate or are proceeds of some criminal activities.
3. Further inquiry around the customer’s identity and the nature of the business relationship helps the entity assess whether the customer is just carrying higher risk or is actually suspected of being involved in some money laundering or terrorism financing activities.
4. Applying appropriate EDD measures ensures that the business does not engage with any criminal or a person charged with some financial crime (adverse media sources), safeguarding the business’s reputation.
5. AML regulations require that the regulated entity seek senior management approval when establishing business relationships with high-risk customers. This measure will ensure that management is aware of the increased risk and make an informed decision to deal with such customers.
6. One more measure to be applied during EDD is obtaining payment towards the transaction from the customer’s bank account, subject to similar CDD measures. This will help the regulated entities ensure that no third party exploits their business under another name.
7. When applying EDD measures, the regulated entity must consider filing a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) and a Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) if any red flags are detected. This will ensure that the regulated entities safeguard their business against potential threats and timely report the matter to FIU, complying with the regulatory reporting requirements.

Adopt adequate increased controls and risk mitigation measures when high-risk is encountered.

As a leading AML consultancy service provider, AML UAE can assist you in designing customized AML/CFT policies, procedures, and controls in line with the outcome of the Enterprise-Wide Risk Assessment. This will include defining the circumstances when the customer shall be classified as high-risk and what EDD measures shall be applied. Let’s come together to fight the financial crime.

Under UAE AML regulations, the Dealers in Precious Metals and Stones (DPMS) are one of the Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions (DNFBPs) subject to AML compliance. One of the compliance obligations imposed upon DPMS or jewellers in UAE is to report certain designated transactions on the goAML portal by filing a Dealers in Precious Metals and Stones Report (DPMSR).

The DPMSR is to be filed by the dealers in precious metals/stones when the transactions are either in cash or wire transfer. In the case of the natural person, whether resident or non-resident of UAE, the cash transactions of AED 55,000 or more would be treated as designated transactions requiring reporting on the goAML Portal. For corporate customers, transactions of value AED 55,000 or more involving cash or international wire transfers are to be reported.

DPMSR is to be filed within two (2) weeks from the event triggering the reporting, i.e., from the date of receipt or payment of funds of the specified amount in cash or wire transfer, as mentioned above.

Moreover, when filing the DPMSR on the goAML Portal, the dealers in precious metals/stones must submit the necessary identification documents of the customer. It would be a copy of a valid Emirates ID or Passport or any other government-issued ID bearing photograph for a natural person or an individual customer. The regulated entity must furnish the valid trade license copy of the corporate customer and the identity document (Emirates ID/Passport) of the authorized representative of the corporate customer.

Here is an infographic discussing the salient aspects a dealer in precious metals and stones must understand regarding one of its essential AML reporting obligations – DPMSR.

AML UAE, with its varied experience across the countries and thorough understanding of the UAE regulations, can assist you in setting up the required processes and systems to identify the transactions warranting the filing of DPMSR and implement best practices to file these reports on the goAML Portal.

With the virtual asset sector booming in the UAE, including the acceptance of digital securities and payment tokens, various authorities have been designated to oversee and supervise the licensing and operations of the Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASP). This bifurcation of the authorities for managing VASP activities is mainly based on the location of the VASP and the nature of the activities.

VASPs based in Dubai, except those operating in or from Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), are subject to supervision by Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA). For DIFC-based VASPs, the governing authority is the Dubai Financial Service Authority. Similarly, for VASPs operating from the financial free zone of the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the concerned supervisory authority is the Financial Service Regulatory Authority (FSRA).

For other VASPs (not operating from Dubai or the DIFC/ADGM financial free zones), the governing AML supervisory authority is the UAE’s Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA).

Monitoring of the payment tokens is under the purview of the Central Bank of UAE, while digital securities and commodities are under SCA.

Here is an infographic discussing the AML Supervisory Authorities in UAE to oversee the level and nature of the AML compliance program implemented by the VASPs operating within their jurisdictions.

With AML UAE‘s years of experience and subject knowledge (on AML as well as virtual asset space), we have been assisting the VASP in UAE in assessing the financial crime risks and customizing the AML/CFT program in line with local regulations and FATF best practices recommended to protect the exploitation of the virtual assets by financial criminals.