The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates imposed a financial sanction of AED 200 million — equivalent to USD 54.45 million — on an unnamed exchange house on 20 May 2025 for what the regulator described as significant failures in the institution's anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism framework, policies, and procedures.
The sanction was imposed under Article 137 of Decretal Federal Law No. 14 of 2018 concerning the Central Bank and Organisation of Financial Institutions and Activities. The CBUAE said the failures were identified through its examination processes.
A branch manager of the unnamed institution was separately fined AED 500,000 — approximately USD 136,000 — and was prohibited from holding any position within any licensed financial institution in the UAE.
BACKGROUND
The UAE was removed from the Financial Action Task Force grey list in February 2024.