The Central Bank of the UAE has imposed a financial sanction of AED 100 million on an unnamed exchange house, citing significant failures in its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing framework. The penalty, announced on 29 May 2025, was applied pursuant to Article 137 of Decretal Federal Law No. 14 of 2018, which governs the regulation and supervision of financial institutions operating in the UAE. The CBUAE did not disclose the identity of the sanctioned institution.
Examination findings revealed material deficiencies across the exchange house's AML/CFT controls and related regulatory obligations. The central bank stated that the failures were significant in nature without providing further operational detail about the specific control breakdowns or the period over which they occurred.
EARLIER EXCHANGE HOUSE FINE
The AED 100 million sanction follows an even larger penalty imposed on 20 May 2025, when the CBUAE fined a separate exchange house AED 200 million for comparable compliance failures.
The UAE was removed from the Financial Action Task Force grey list in February 2024.
REGULATOR'S STATEMENT
The regulator said that, through its supervisory and regulatory mandates, it aims to ensure that all exchange houses, their owners and staff abide by UAE laws, regulations and standards. The CBUAE has not confirmed whether the unnamed exchange house retains its operating licence or faces additional supervisory conditions.