The FATF assesses each member’s implementation of the FATF Recommendations and its actions to tackle money laundering, terrorist financing and the financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction on an ongoing basis. The Methodology for Assessing Technical Compliance with the FATF Recommendations and the Effectiveness of AML/CFT/CPF Systems (The FATF Methodology in short) sets out the assessment process which focuses on two distinct area 1. Technical Compliance, 2. Effectiveness A mutual evaluation report provides an in-depth description and analysis of a country’s system for preventing criminal abuse of the financial system as well as focused recommendations to the country to further strengthen its system.  It is a starting point for the country, as it identifies the priority actions that the country must take to strengthen national frameworks and make its AML/CFT/CPF actions more effective. The Recommendations from the mutual evaluation reports will be more results-oriented, focusing on specific actions and timelines to tackle money laundering, terrorist financing and the financing of weapons of mass destruction.  

• FATF Methodology

In April 2020, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) issued its Mutual Evaluation Report (MER) on the UAE’s AML/CFT measures. Based on an assessment conducted in 2019, the MER analyses the UAE’s compliance level with the FATF 40 Recommendations and the effectiveness of its AML/CFT system. The MER also provides recommendations on how the system could be strengthened.

• Mutual Evaluation Report United Arab Emirates 2020

• Post Mutual Evaluation Report 2020

• FATF

• MENA FATF

Domestic Cooperation

The CBUAE focuses on strengthening key partnerships between domestic and international stakeholders. For example, the AMLD plays a leading role in the conduct of sectoral risk assessments at a national level, through its strong collaboration with other supervisory authorities at the Supervisory Sub-Committee (SSC) of the National Anti-Money Laundering and Combatting Financing of Terrorism and Financing of Illegal Organisations Committee (‘NAMLCFTC’). Through this process, the AMLD provides guidance and shares its expertise in the identification, understanding, and mitigating of ML/TF/PF risks, threats and vulnerabilities with other supervisory authorities and law enforcement agencies. Some of the joint initiatives with other supervisory authorities include supervision in line with the publication of the following joint guidance:

• Joint Guidance on Combating the Use of Unlicensed Virtual Asset Providers in the United Arab Emirates

• Joint Guidance on the Treatment of Financial Crime Risks and Obligations in the UAE in the context of the Covid-19 Crisis

• Joint Guidelines on Anti-Money Laundering & Countering Terrorist Financing

• Joint Paper - Typologies on Anti-Money Laundering & Countering Terrorist Financing in the Financial Sector

• Joint Examination Outcomes (Anti-Money Laundering & Countering Terrorist Financing Guidelines).

• Joint Paper Typologies On Anti Money Laundering & Countering Terrorist Financing In The Money Or Value Transfer Services Sector

• Joint Guidance on the AML/CFT/CPF Compliance Officer/ Money Laundering Reporting Officer Function in the United Arab Emirates

• Joint Paper Virtual Asset Service Providers (Vasps) Emerging ML TF PF Risks, Threats & Vulnerabilities In The UAE Relating To Stablecoins

• Joint Paper - Emerging ML/TF/PF Risks and Trends in the Financial Sector

• Typologies on Anti-Money Laundering & Countering Terrorist Financing in the Money or Value Transfer Services Sector

International Co-operation and outreaches

In 2024, the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) launched the AML/CFT/CPF Supervision International Outreach Programme as part of its international cooperation and knowledge-sharing efforts. The programme aims to engage AML/CFT/CPF supervisory authorities and other relevant stakeholders from FATF member and non-member countries, as well as regional bodies, to share CBUAE’s progress and achievements in implementing an effective risk-based AML/CFT/CPF supervision and monitoring framework. The exchange sessions cover: CBUAE’s processes and application of risk-based AML/CFT/CPF supervision and monitoring Enforcement mechanisms Achievements, challenges, and lessons learned over the past five years (2020–2025) This initiative has been mutually beneficial, enabling the exchange of experiences on key areas such as sectoral and institutional ML/TF/PF risk assessments and the practical application of risk-based supervision. In 2024, eight countries took part in the programme. In the first half of 2025, six additional countries attended. Overall, 78 government officials from participating countries joined the sessions.

CBUAE’s 2024 National Summit on Financial Crime Compliance

Under the Patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister, Chairman of the Presidential Court, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE), H.E. Khaled Mohamed Balama, Governor of the CBUAE, and Chairman of the National Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Financing of Terrorism and Financing of Illegal Organisations Committee, inaugurated the National Summit on Financial Crime Compliance organised by the CBUAE in collaboration with EU Global Facility on Anti Money Laundering and Combatting the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT). The two-day summit, held on 9 and 10 October 2024, brought together high-level local and international experts and decision-makers from regulatory bodies and law enforcement authorities, with around 45 speakers addressing vital topics in financial crime compliance and Anti-Money Laundering and Combatting the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT).

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CBUAE’s 2021 National Summit on Counter Terrorist Financing and Sanctions concludes

H.E. Khaled Mohamed Balama, Governor of the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) and Chairman of National Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Financing of Terrorism and Illegal Organisations Committee, inaugurated the National Summit on Counter-Terrorist Financing and Sanctions hosted virtually by CBUAE from Abu Dhabi on Thursday 15 July 2021. The CBUAE hosted high profile local and international speakers and was attended by 1,000 participants to showcase and discuss leading solutions in the field that are set to further strengthen the capabilities of financial institutions. In its second edition, the Summit centered around demonstrating the UAE’s commitment to protecting its financial system from illegal activities and ensuring a robust counterterrorist financing enforcement framework across the nation. Leading subject matter experts from the UAE banking and insurance sectors, as well as senior officials from other UAE federal authorities, and guests from the central banks of other GCC countries, attended. The speakers included H.E Ambassador Talal Al Teneiji, Director of the Committee for Goods and Materials Subject to Import and Export Control’s (CGMSIEC) Executive Office, complimented by international expert speakers from the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI), amongst several others. The event, aimed at sharing knowledge and awareness with all licensed financial institutions under CBUAE’s mandate, draws on the critical contribution of the UAE’s CGMSIEC’s Executive Office, which carries the national mandate related to targeted financial sanctions. The Summit hosted a comprehensive agenda of keynote speeches and presentations in the areas of proliferation financing typologies, nuclear proliferation mitigation and detection, export control of dual use goods, the outcomes of sanctions screening, and the assessment of proliferation financing risk.

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CBUAE’s 2019 National Summit on Counter Terrorist Financing

The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) hosted a National Summit on Counter Terrorist Financing and Sanctions, hosted by the Central Bank in 2019. With the regulator reaffirming its commitment to combat terrorist financing through heightened awareness and enhanced sanction obligations. The summit addressed and urged the UAE financial community to progress from basic sanction screening to the implementation of more technologically advanced controls. Receiving over 400 distinguished guests including the UAE’s Federal Authorities, the United Nations Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) and the U.S. Treasury attaché, the two-day summit tackled key topics such as emerging terrorist trends and the use of technology in early threat detection.

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