UAE confiscates Dh4.23 billion in 2025 anti-money laundering crackdown

Abu Dhabi: The National Committee for Combating Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism and Illegal Organisations (NAMLCFTC) has announced the performance indicators of the UAE’s national anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist financing, and counter-proliferation financing framework for 2025. The results were approved by the Higher Committee Overseeing the National Strategy on Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing during its most recent meeting.

The results demonstrate the UAE’s continued commitment to a risk-based and sustainable approach in addressing financial threats, strengthening the effectiveness of national efforts, reinforcing institutional integration, and enhancing the national framework’s ability to measure impact and continuously improve performance through precise and updated indicators.

Commenting on the results,  Khaled Mohamed Balama, Governor of the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates and Chairman of the National Committee, stated:

“These leading results reflect the steady progress achieved in implementing the National Strategy for Anti-Money Laundering, Counter-Terrorism Financing, and Counter-Proliferation Financing (2024–2027). They reaffirm the UAE’s unwavering commitment to fostering a secure and stable global financial environment built on a robust and agile supervisory framework capable of anticipating challenges and combating financial crimes effectively and efficiently.”

He added: “The significant advancement in the 2025 performance indicators carries strategic importance as it represents the culmination of major legislative and regulatory enhancements, particularly the issuance of Federal Decree-Law No. 10 of 2025. This enhanced legal framework has strengthened governance structures, deepened institutional integration, and further elevated the UAE’s financial and economic competitiveness on the global stage.”

Balama also expressed his sincere appreciation to the members of the National Committee, supervisory authorities, law enforcement agencies, and strategic partners, commending their dedicated efforts and pivotal contributions to improving performance indicators and achieving these qualitative milestones that embody the spirit of a unified national team.

For his part, Hamid Saif Al Zaabi, Secretary-General and Vice Chairman of the National Committee, affirmed that the 2025 performance indicators reflect the UAE’s commitment to enhancing the effectiveness of its national framework in line with the standards of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and international best practices.

As part of international cooperation efforts, Al Zaabi explained that the General Secretariat, in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, continues to strengthen communication channels and cooperation with international partners in combating money laundering and terrorist financing. During 2025, the Secretariat convened 15 National Expert Team meetings with several FATF member states, contributing to greater technical knowledge exchange, enhanced risk-based cooperation, sharing of best practices, and the expansion of bilateral and multilateral cooperation in support of global efforts to combat financial crime.

He added that the results underscore the growing effectiveness of national coordination among relevant authorities and the increasing impact of international partnerships in supporting the UAE’s efforts to combat cross-border financial crimes. He noted that the UAE continues to strengthen institutional readiness, enhance supervisory and financial investigation capabilities, and advance the use of data and statistical indicators to support decision-making and measure the tangible impact of the national framework.

According to the performance indicators, the UAE further strengthened its position as a trusted global partner in 2025 through enhanced international cooperation. Requests received through judicial cooperation, law enforcement, and financial intelligence channels increased significantly.

 Incoming mutual legal assistance requests rose by 4.9%, from 492 to 516 requests, while extradition requests increased by 25.3%, from 446 to 559 requests. Requests for information received by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) increased by 20.7%, from 1,261 to 1,522 requests. Precautionary freezing orders rose by 46.7%, from 15 to 22 orders, while the value of frozen assets doubled to AED 150 million.

In the area of supervision of financial institutions, virtual asset service providers (VASPs), and designated non-financial businesses and professions (DNFBPs), authorities conducted 781 inspections of financial institutions and VASPs and imposed fines totaling AED 384 million. Suspicious transaction reports (STRs) increased by 28% to approximately 80,000 reports, of which banks accounted for 82.2%. At the DNFBP level, nearly 8,900 inspections were conducted, resulting in fines totaling AED 160.33 million.

Regarding beneficial ownership transparency, the UAE achieved substantial progress in strengthening compliance with beneficial ownership data requirements. Improvement reached 91.7% compared to the previous year, with only 336 legal entities lacking beneficial ownership information, compared to 4,038 entities in 2024. Risk-based inspections increased by 54.2%, from 155,000 to 239,000 inspections, while beneficial ownership-related inquiries rose by 43.3% to 3,300 inquiries, including 68.9% from law enforcement agencies and 30.6% from the Financial Intelligence Unit.

In the field of financial intelligence, investigations, and asset recovery, financial intelligence packages disseminated increased by 83.7%, from 233 to 428 packages. The number of reports contained within these packages surged by 155.1%, from 1,492 to 3,806 reports. Suspicious transaction reports increased by 20.8%, from 54,000 to 66,000 reports, while law enforcement cases rose by 45.8%, from 646 to 942 cases. The value of domestic confiscations reached AED 4.23 billion, alongside the return of AED 750 million to victims.

In combating terrorist financing, suspicious reports related to terrorist financing increased by 62%, from 158 to 256 reports. Authorities also initiated 56 terrorist financing investigations, 85.7% of which involved natural persons.

The 2025 performance indicators provide a comprehensive, data-driven assessment of the UAE’s anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist financing, and counter-proliferation financing framework, drawing on data from competent authorities, supervisory bodies, and the Financial Intelligence Unit. The results highlight the maturity and continued advancement of the national framework across key areas, including international cooperation, supervision, beneficial ownership transparency, financial intelligence, asset recovery, and efforts to combat terrorist financing and proliferation financing.