UAE marks FATF Grey List Exit
After two years of enhanced efforts to address vulnerabilities in the UAE’s policy towards countering financial crimes the country has officially been removed from the FATF’s grey list as of February 2024.
The grey list refers to ‘Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring’ that are actively working with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to address ‘strategic deficiencies’ in their policies to counter money laundering (ML), terrorist financing, and other financial crimes. It serves as a warning to these countries, encouraging them to address insufficient regulations or implementation mechanisms to meet international standards.
At a plenary meeting conducted this year February, the FATF acknowledged UAE’s significant progress in improving its Anti-Money Laundering (AML)/ Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) policies, and, therefore, determined that after being placed on the grey list in 2022, the UAE is no longer subject to the FATF’s increased monitoring.
The exit from the FATF’s grey list demonstrates the UAE’s commitment to strengthening its financial regulatory framework and restoring global confidence in its ability to counter financial crimes.
The improvement points highlighted by the FATF included: increasing investigations and prosecution of ML, ensuring effective implementations, applying effective measures for noncompliance, and others. Thus, in March of last year the Ministry of Economy imposed fines worth more than AED 22M on 29 companies operating in the DNFBP sector for not complying with AML-CFT legislation.
Some of the actions taken by the UAE feature:
• In December 2023, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) announced revisions of its AML policies.
• The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) released its business plan for 2023-2024, focusing on monitoring businesses’ compliance systems, and assessing financial crime risks.
• UAE has also fully established an anti-money laundering reporting platform (goAML), that serves to file suspicious activity reports (SARs) by financial institutions and DNFBPs.
Ensuring compliance is fundamental for businesses, safeguarding them from legal consequences and reputational harm. Regardless of the industry your company operates in, navigating complex regulations, is imperative.
At Bolster Group, we offer tailored Compliance and AML Solutions Services so you can be a compliant and trusted player in the UAE’s commercial landscape.