Abu Dhabi: The UAE Central Bank issued new guidelines on anti-money laundering and combating terror financing to tackle risks related to politically exposed persons.
The guidance will help licensed financial institutions understand the risks and effectively implement their statutory AML/CFT obligations while keeping Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards into account.
Financial institutions have been given one month to comply with the requirements.
The Central Bank says politically exposed persons and transactions involving them may expose financial institutions to greater risk of money laundering and terror financing, and has asked them to carry out due diligence when dealing with politically exposed persons, their families and close associates.
The financial institutions must develop risk-based policies to identify such persons prior to establishing any business relationship with them, the Central Bank says.
Khaled Mohamed Balama, Governor of the CBUAE, said: “We are keen to ensure that all LFIs comprehensively understand their role and responsibilities in mitigating relevant AML/CFT risks and safeguarding the UAE financial system from illicit activities. This guidance provides LFIs with further requirements and measures they must fulfil before and after initiating business relationships with politically exposed persons to stay anti-money laundering compliant.”
