Money laundering refers to the following acts:

1. Any person with knowledge that funds held are the proceeds of a felony or a misdemeanour, and who wilfully commits any of the following acts, shall be considered a perpetrator of the crime of money laundering:

• Transferring or moving proceeds or conducting any transaction with the aim of concealing or disguising their illegal source.
• Concealing or disguising the true nature, source or location of the proceeds as well as the method involving their disposition, movement, ownership of or rights with respect to said proceeds.
• Acquiring, possessing or using proceeds upon receipt.
• Assisting the perpetrator of the predicate offence to escape punishment.

2. The crime of money laundering is considered as an independent crime. The punishment of the perpetrator for the predicate offence shall not prevent his punishment for the crime of money laundering
3. Proving the illicit source of the proceeds should not constitute a prerequisite to sentencing the perpetrator of the predicate offence

To combat financial crime, the UAE endorses and implements various international and regional initiatives. They include:

• Forty Recommendations issued in 2012 by the Financial Action Task Force: International Standards on Combatting Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism and Proliferation.
• The Basel Statement of Principles issued by Basel Committee to prevent the use of banking system for criminal purposes.
• European Community directive to prevent the utilisation of the banking system for money laundering activities.
• The Council of Europe Convention on Money Laundering, Search, Seizure and confiscation of the proceeds from crime.

Our objective is to protect the nation’s financial and economic stability by reducing the threat of criminal economic activity in the UAE. To achieve this, we work towards 12 strategic goals.

The committee carries out the full responsibility of coordinating anti money laundering policies in the UAE. The committee comprises representatives from different authorities to effectively deliver on our mandate with regard to proposing regulations and procedures related to anti money laundering / combatting the financing of terrorism and illegal organisations, facilitating exchange of information, coordinating with various authorities, and representing the UAE in regional and international forums.

Our success relies on the collaboration of authority members and sub-committees towards a shared goal and initiatives, and the execution of the national strategy framework. You will find a full list of all our authority members by clicking here, and our sub-committees by clicking here.

FATF’s Recommendations have become the world’s blueprint for effective national and international AML and CFT related controls. The IMF and the World Bank have recognised the FATF Recommendations as the international standard for combatting money laundering and terrorist financing.

The 40 Recommendations provide a complete set of countermeasures against money laundering and terrorist financing, covering:

• The identification of risks and development of appropriate policies.

• The criminal justice system and law enforcement.

• The financial system and its regulation.

• The transparency of legal persons and arrangements.

• International cooperation.

Known as Financial Action Task Force Recommendations, the measures can be found here.

Please click here to access the very latest Laws and Regulations put in place to combat financial crime and protect the local and international financial system.