News Details

Executive Office of Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing concludes review of progress up to Q1 2023

ABU DHABI, 9th May, 2023 (WAM) – The Executive Office of Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing (EO AML/CTF) concluded a review of progress up until the end of the first quarter of 2023. The meeting was chaired by Hamid AlZaabi, Director General, and attended by the executive management team.
Highlights include:
• To date, the UAE has signed a total of 44 international Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties, with more expected in 2023.

• From November 2022 to February 2023, law enforcement agencies sent out 327 requests for information to foreign counterparts through various channels, including INTERPOL, the GCC Police, Liaison Officer Networks, and special security MoUs with 110 foreign counterparts.

• Supervisors of financial institutions and Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions (DNFBPs) issued 161 fines to 76 entities amounting to over AED 115 million (USD 30 million), showing a clear increase over 2022, wherein supervisors issued fines amounting to over AED 76 million (USD 20 million).

• The UAE successfully confiscated over AED 925 million (USD 250 million) from November 2022 to February 2023, primarily from cases related to professional and trade-based money laundering.

• All businesses registered and licensed in Dubai will receive the Dubai Unified License, with the first of multiple phases scheduled to launch in Q2 2023. The Emirates of Abu Dhabi and Sharjah have already started work on legislative amendments to implement this important reform.

• The Executive Office for Control and Non-Proliferation carried out comprehensive outreach to the private and public sectors on terrorism financing and proliferation financing (TF/PF). In Q1 2023, 10 outreach sessions were conducted and attended by over 11,000 participants from the private and public sectors.

• In March 2023, the Executive Office of Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing hosted the annual MENAFATF Typologies and Capacity Building Workshop with the attendance of over 100 experts from 21 countries.

Hamid AlZaabi, Director General, said: “The strong progress that we see in the Q1 2023 review demonstrates the UAE’s enduring commitment to combating illicit finance and preserving the integrity of the global financial system. We have expanded our international engagement program on a bilateral basis with other countries and are working with and through multilateral organisations. Domestically, we can see that the UAE’s system has responded well to policy reforms and is more cohesive, dynamic, and effective than ever before. By updating the National Risk Assessment using the World Bank Group methodology, we are strengthening the risk-based approach that sits at the centre of the National Action Plan and National Strategy for AML/CTF. We continue to build long-term, sustainable capabilities and accelerate the development of the UAE’s ability to successfully combat financial crime.”

Detailed Review
International Cooperation
The UAE has prioritized a sustained increase in international cooperation to combat financial and organized crime. This includes several high-profile cases of investigations, arrests, and extradition agreements between the UAE and other jurisdictions.
The UAE has successfully signed 44 mutual legal assistance (MLA) treaties in line with Ministry of Justice guidance on international judicial cooperation in criminal matters. 7 of these treaties were signed in 2022 alone. In Q1 2023, the Ministry of Justice has successfully completed the negotiation of a further new Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, with further treaties in development.
The UAE focused its efforts on outbound MLA requests and other requests targeting trade-based money laundering, third-party money laundering, and foreign predicate offences, including international facilitators. Throughout 2022, the UAE sent 290 outgoing MLA requests to 72 foreign states.
The MoU signed with the UNODC in October 2022 provides a framework for cooperation and understanding to facilitate and strengthen collaboration in the fight against financial crime. The MoU elevates the UAE’s support for national and international efforts to effectively disrupt illicit financing.

Reporting of suspicious transactions and financial intelligence
The UAE Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) is the central agency that works closely with relevant competent authorities to determine links between possible proceeds of crime, money laundering, or terrorist financing. It has invested heavily in improving the team by hiring highly experienced professionals with relevant backgrounds in compliance, banking, law enforcement, and investigations.
From January to February 2023, the FIU received nearly 7,000 suspicious transaction reports (STRs) and suspicious activity reports (SARs) from relevant entities across financial institutions and Designated Non-Financial Business and Professions (DNFBPs). By comparing data for 2021 with 2022, STR/SAR submissions increased by 81%.
The FIU completed 3 strategic analysis projects in 2022 – related to fraud crimes, trends, and typologies; dealers in precious metals and stones; and customs-related money laundering, in addition to a white paper on Far East typology patterns and schemes, which were disseminated to competent authorities and reporting entities.

Supervision and Legal Persons and Arrangements
UAE supervisors have conducted robust risk-based inspections based on coherent Targeted Financial Sanctions criteria. In Q1 2023, all supervisory authorities have been active, with the Central Bank of the UAE leading the way. It conducted 464 off-site inspections and 128 on-site inspections, applying fines reaching nearly AED 70 million. The Ministry of Economy was similarly active. It conducted 4,344 off-site inspections and 3,360 on-site inspections, applying fines amounting to AED 16.5 million.
In Q1 2023, registrars conducted over 33,000 inspections, a significant increase from 2022, where the whole year saw 67,000 inspections take place. 59% of all inspections were conducted by authorities in the Emirate of Dubai, which constituted 46% of all UAE inspections in 2022.
In addition to inspections carried out by supervisory authorities, the Ministry of Economy is working closely with registrars on a risk-based inspection program to ensure compliance with national Ultimate Beneficial Ownership (UBO) regulations. UBO is an area where the UAE has introduced an international standard-setting system, which centralizes beneficial ownership information collection and verification and AML/CTF procedures for the registration authorities.
All businesses registered and licensed in Dubai will receive the Dubai Unified License, with the first of multiple phases scheduled to launch in Q2 2023.

Money Laundering Investigations and Prosecutions
The UAE’s system to effectively investigate money laundering offences and swiftly apply proportionate sanctions to dissuade further criminal behavior continues to mature. From November 2022 to February 2023, law enforcement agencies opened 122 new ML cases, and public prosecutors investigated 109 ML cases. During this period, the UAE maintaied a 94% conviction rate in money laundering cases, and 51 convictions involving 194 individuals and 81 legal entities were dealt out.
The UAE has established and introduced more sophisticated investigation methods and techniques across investigative authorities to more effectively tackle highly complex ML typologies. As such, all investigations require the officer to formulate an investigation strategy and analyze the possible outcomes, threats, and vulnerabilities of that strategy.

Terrorism Financing and Preventative Measures
The UAE treats terrorist financing risks and risks of proliferation with the utmost seriousness. Highly prioritized efforts and activities ensure that terrorist financiers are prevented from raising funds – either via the private or the non-profit sector – and that the entities and individuals engaged in proliferation of weapons of mass destruction are prevented from doing so in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.