UAE Central Bank hit Financial Firms with fines due to compliance failures

The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE), in its largest enforcement campaign in years, has fined 13 money exchange firms, 7 insurance companies, 10 banks (including 3 foreign banks), and 1 finance company. The collective amount of fines is more than AED 370 million. In addition, it also revoked the licences of a few firms and individuals, as they failed to comply with the Emirates’ anti-money laundering (AML) and counter terror financing (CTF) laws.

The regulator said that the penalties were the result of the inspection that identified breaches in AML and CFT controls, federal laws, and customer protection rules.

The largest penalty was imposed on a money exchange firm. It was penalised with AED 200 million and its branch manager was handed down the fine of AED 500,000. Another firm was hit with an AED 100 million fine. The regulators also said that they penalized foreign firms with multi-million-dirham fines. The name of the firms fined was not revealed to the public by the CBUAE.

The regulator has also taken licensing and operational measures. It revoked the licences of Gomti Exchange and Al Hindi Exchange. It ordered the closure of branches of some foreign insurance companies, and directed a local bank to suspend the onboarding of new Islamic banking clients for six months.

“The Central Bank will not tolerate violations that undermine transparency, consumer protection, or the integrity of the financial system.”

From the statement issued by the Central Bank of the UAE

In addition to fines and license cancellations, the central bank has also imposed corrective measures designed to strengthen compliance systems across the financial sector. These include mandatory improvements in internal controls, stricter customer due diligence processes, and enhanced reporting mechanisms.

The government has pledged to tighten the oversight of financial institutions to meet the global AML and CTF standards. The enforcement took its pace when the UAE came under international scrutiny over risks of illicit financial flows.

These efforts to combat money laundering and terror financing have proved to enhance global trust in the Emirates’ financial sector. In January 2025, the European Parliament voted to remove the UAE from its list of high-risk jurisdictions with strategic AML/CFT deficiencies. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) had earlier removed the UAE from its “grey list” in February 2024 after assessing improvements in the country’s regulatory regime.

The central bank said it would continue to publish details of enforcement actions as part of its strategy to increase transparency and maintain confidence in the UAE’s financial system.