AML and Compliance
The activity on your licence put you in a supervised category, and the obligations arrived with it whether anyone explained them or not. Registration, a written risk assessment, a compliance officer, records, training. An inspector does not ask whether you knew. They ask to see the file.
Registered where registration is required, with a policy, a risk assessment and records that describe the business you actually run.
AML and Compliance
The activity on your licence put you in a supervised category, and the obligations arrived with it whether anyone explained them or not. Registration, a written risk assessment, a compliance officer, records, training. An inspector does not ask whether you knew. They ask to see the file.
Registered where registration is required, with a policy, a risk assessment and records that describe the business you actually run.
How it works
What actually happens, in order.
- 01
Scope check
The first question is whether this applies to you at all, and under which supervisor. The activity on the licence decides that, not the industry you think you are in. If it does not apply, we tell you and stop.
1 to 2 working days
- 02
Risk assessment
A written assessment against your real customers, countries, products and delivery channels. A downloaded template is the fastest way to fail an inspection, because it describes a business that is not yours.
1 to 2 weeks
- 03
Policy, registration and controls
goAML registration where it is required, a policy and procedures matched to the risk assessment, due diligence steps that fit how you actually onboard a customer, and a named compliance officer.
Supervisor timelines apply
- 04
Training and review
Staff training with an attendance record, and a scheduled review so the policy does not end up describing last year. Records are what an inspection actually reads.
Annually, and on any material change
What you hand over. What you get back.
What you provide and what we deliver
You provide
- Trade licence, showing the activities on it
- Ownership and beneficial ownership details
- Your customer types and the countries you deal with
- Existing policies, registrations or inspection correspondence
- The person who will hold the compliance officer role
We deliver
- A written scope assessment: whether this applies, and under whom
- A business risk assessment against your actual exposure
- An AML policy and procedures matched to that assessment
- goAML registration where it is required
- Customer due diligence steps your team can follow
- Staff training, with a record of who attended
What it costs
What the fee depends on.
The fee depends on your activities, how many customer types and countries have to be assessed, whether usable policies already exist that can be corrected rather than rewritten, and whether you want a one time set up or an ongoing review. Any authority fees are separate and passed through at cost.
The rules, as they stand
What the regulations currently say.
The Ministry of Economy supervises Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions for anti money laundering purposes. The categories it lists include accountants and auditors, trust and corporate service providers, real estate brokers and agents, and dealers in precious metals and stones. Those businesses register on goAML, the portal the UAE Financial Intelligence Unit uses to receive and analyse suspicious transaction reports.
SourceChecked
UAE rules change. These notes are general information, not advice for your entity, and we re-check every one of them on a schedule.
Before you ask
Questions about aml and compliance
If the one you need is not here, ask it on WhatsApp. You will get an actual answer, not a callback form.
Does this apply to us?
It depends on the activities on your trade licence, not on how you describe the business. The supervised categories include accountants and auditors, company and trust service providers, real estate brokers and agents, and dealers in precious metals and stones. If your licence does not put you in one of them, we will say so at the scope check and you will not need us for this.
We already have a policy from a template.
Most businesses do. The problem is that an inspector reads the policy against the business in front of them, and a template describes a business that does not exist. Where what you have is fixable, we would rather correct it against a real risk assessment than sell you a rewrite you do not need.
What does an inspection actually look at?
Records. Whether you are registered. Whether a risk assessment exists and matches your activities. Whether due diligence was performed and evidenced. Whether staff were trained and whether that is documented. Who the compliance officer is. Every item on that list is a document, which is the reason to build them before somebody asks.
Ask an AI about us
Opens your assistant with a question already written, pointed at this page. It answers from what we publish, including the notes we keep for assistants.
Tell us what is actually going on.
Twenty minutes, no charge, no obligation. If we are not the right fit we will say so on that call rather than three weeks later.
Prefer to write it out? Send an enquiry instead