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Wed, Oct 09, 2024 | Rabī‘ ath-thānī 6, 1446 | DXB
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UAE seized over Dh2 billion in assets linked to suspicious financial activities in 2023
Last year, over 4,000 inspections of higher-risk entities from a total of nearly 15,000 regulated institutions and companies were conducted
- Waheed Abbas
- Updated: Wed 9 Oct 2024, 2:48 PM
The UAE has tightened the noose around suspicious financial activities and transactions to counter money laundering and combat terror financing. This has led to confiscations of funds and assets worth more than Dh2 billion in 2023, said Khaled Mohamed Balama, governor of the Central Bank of the UAE.
While speaking during the National Summit on Financial Crime Compliance in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, he said the UAE has made significant progress in maintaining the efficiency and integrity of its financial sector.
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He said the UAE regulatory authorities ensured that strict measures be imposed on violators, increasing financial sanctions to more than Dh250 million, compared to Dh80 million in 2022.
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“The Central Bank is in the process of launching the supervisory technology programme, the first of its kind in the region, which will enable early detection and warning of risks, based on data assessment processes, to determine the extent of exposure to money laundering operations," said Balama.
The governor elaborated that the corrective steps taken by the regulator included overseeing the update of transactions monitoring systems in the financial sector and expanding the scope of examinations on regulated entities, which tripled the number during 2023.
Last year, over 4,000 inspections of higher-risk entities from a total of nearly 15,000 regulated institutions and companies were conducted, an increase of 450 per cent.
In addition, close cooperation between regulatory authorities led to more than 55,000 reports on suspicious activities and transactions being filed during 2022, which led to confiscations of assets and funds exceeding Dh2 billion in 2023, the governor said on the first day of the two-day summit.
Recently, the UAE launched its National Strategy to Combat Money Laundering, Terrorism Financing, and the Financing of Proliferation for the years 2024-2027, setting out eleven strategic objectives to support legislation related to risk assessment, examination, international cooperation, ensuring regular reporting of suspicious activities/transactions to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and executing targeted sanctions to tackle predicate offences.
Fatma Aljabri, assistant governor for financial crime, market conduct, and consumer protection at the National Anti-Money Laundering Committee at the Central Bank of UAE, said that thanks to effective oversight and supervision, the compliance culture within the country’s financial services sector has transformed.
“We have also taken proactive measures to enhance responsibility, accountability, and support innovation by requiring licensed financial institutions to conduct risk assessments, including assessments of proliferation, in line with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards. This has enabled us to identify areas of weak compliance and provide necessary training and guidance,” Aljabrisaid.
While speaking during the National Summit on Financial Crime Compliance in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, she said the Central Bank works with over 30 member states of the Financial Action Task Force to protect the international community from financial crimes.
Aljabri added that over the past nine months, the Central Bank has implemented initiatives to enhance our framework's effectiveness and improve the laws and regulations governing our regulated entities. This included collecting and analysing over 1,600 data transactions, enabling the regulator to identify areas of increasing risk and respond to them by applying risk-based supervisory tools.
“These efforts, among many others, achieved the desired results, most notably the removal of the UAE’s name from the list of “Jurisdictions under Enhanced Monitoring” (of FATF),” she added.
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Waheed Abbas
Waheed Abbas is Assistant Editor, covering real estate, aviation and other business stories that directly affect the lives of UAE consumers. He frequently reports human interest stories, too.
waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com 
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