The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) imposed a financial sanction of AED 3 million on an unnamed UAE-based bank on 10 July 2025 for violating anti-money laundering (AML) rules.
The penalty was issued under the federal decree law on anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism and illegal organisations, together with the federal law governing the central bank and the regulation of financial institutions.
According to the CBUAE, regulatory examinations found that the bank had failed to comply with the central bank's instructions on AML standards, as set out in the decree law and its subsequent amendments.
In its announcement, the regulator said that, through its supervisory and regulatory mandate, it works to ensure that all banks and their staff abide by UAE laws, regulations and the standards adopted by the CBUAE.
SEPARATE ISLAMIC WINDOW ACTION
The fine followed a separate enforcement action announced on 25 June 2025, when the CBUAE ordered a six-month suspension of new-customer onboarding through the Islamic window of a bank operating in the country and imposed a financial penalty of AED 3.5 million on that institution. An Islamic window is a unit within a conventional bank through which customers can conduct Islamic financial business.
That action followed Sharia supervision examinations which found the bank had not complied with Sharia governance rules and provisions, and the penalty was issued under Article 137 of Decretal Federal Law No. (14) of 2018. The suspension applied only to onboarding new customers through the Islamic window, and the lender in that case was also not named.
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