CBUAE suspends Al Razouki Exchange, shutters two branches

The UAE central bank has suspended the operations of Al Razouki Exchange, a currency exchange house operating in the UAE, for a period of three years.

The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) closed Al Razouki’s branches in Deira and Al Murar, saying the administrative measures were taken pursuant to Article 14 of the AML/CFT Law.

Through its supervisory and regulatory mandates, the CBUAE ensures that all exchange houses, banks, their owners and staff abide by the UAE’s laws, regulations and standards to safeguard the transparency and integrity of the country’s banking sector and financial system.

The central bank fined a local bank $1.6m (Dhs5.8m) for failing to sufficiently address money laundering and financing of terrorism and other related deficiencies in August.

Last September,  the apex lender fined a foreign bank operating in the country Dhs5m for failing to sufficiently address money laundering and financing of terrorism and other related deficiencies.

The UAE, home to the Abu Dhabi Global Market and Dubai International Financial Centre, was removed from the grey list of the global watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in February, capping a push by the authorities to clamp down on illicit financial flows.

The reforms that the UAE implemented to exit FATF’s grey list include increasing financial investigations and prosecutions, boosting international cooperation, and aligning virtual asset regulation with international standards.

Read: UAE fines foreign bank Dhs5m for money laundering breaches