CBUAE Issues New AML/CTF Guidelines for the Insurance Sector

The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) has announced new Anti Money Laundering and Countering Terrorism Financing (AML/CTF) for the insurance sector to curb financial crime. 

The immediate implementation of the guidelines would help Licensed Financial Institutions (LFIs) assess risks and carry out their legal AML/CFT obligations effectively.

All requirements must be met within a month. The guidance covers the Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing risks (ML/TF) that are pertinent to life insurance and certain other investment-related insurance products. It mentions the preventive steps that insurance operators should take to detect, analyse, manage, and mitigate these risks.

Insurance agents are required to conduct, record, and maintain an enterprise risk assessment.

The Central Bank stated that the firms must carry out customer due diligence, comprehend the nature of the client’s business, the objective of the operator’s relationship with the client, and subject all customers to continual surveillance during the business relationship. Additionally, the operators must take extra precautions if they find a client or relationship that poses a higher risk for money laundering or terrorist financing.

The regulator advised insurance providers to have transaction tracking systems that can spot patterns of activity that seem suspicious or out of the ordinary. They must use the “goAML” site to submit an unusual activity or transaction reports immediately to the UAE’s Financial Intelligence Unit.

“Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism is our top priority, as we work with the LFIs and the relevant authorities to prevent and mitigate these types of financial crime activities. We expect the LFIs of the insurance sector to comply with this guidance and enhance their measures and efforts to maintain the soundness of the sector,” said Khaled Mohamed Balama, Governor of the Central Bank.

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