Abu Dhabi: The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) has imposed financial sanctions on 11 Banks operating in the UAE. The action was in accordance with section 14 of the Federal Resolution Act no. (20) of 2018 on combating money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism and the financing of illegal organizations (AML / CFT Law), the relevant articles and decisions of the Council of Cabinet and Central Bank regarding AML / CFT . The financial sanctions imposed on 24 January 2021 totaled DH 45,75 million

Failure failure

The financial sanctions take into account the failure of the banks to achieve appropriate levels of compliance with their AML and sanctions compliance frameworks by the end of 2019.

‘All banks operating in the UAE have given the CBUAE enough time to address any shortcomings, and were instructed in mid-2019 to ensure compliance by the end of the year, and notified further deficiencies would lead to fines under the Federal Decision. Act no. (20) of 2018 and its executive regulations, ”the CBUAE said in a statement.

The CBUAE has said it will continue to work closely with all financial institutions in the UAE to achieve and maintain high levels of AML / CFT compliance, and that it will impose further administrative and / or financial sanctions, according to the law, in cases of non-compliance.