Exchange house in UAE fined Dhs504,000 by Central Bank

The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) said on Wednesday that it had fined an exchange house operating in the country Dhs504,000.

The exchange house reportedly has a weak anti-money laundering and combating financing of terrorism compliance framework.

The CBUAE also took into consideration the exchange house’s poor compliance history when imposing the fine.

It did not specify the name of the exchange house, though added that the fine was issued “pursuant to Article 14 of the Federal Decree Law No. 20 of 2018 on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism and Financing of Illegal Organisations,” reported state-run news agency WAM.

#CBUAE imposes financial sanction on exchange house operating in #UAE.#UEA_BARQ_EN pic.twitter.com/rhWZlW3Xnw

— UAE BARQ (@UAE_BARQ_EN) February 10, 2021

As the supervisory authority of exchange houses operating in the UAE, the CBUAE said that it is committed to ensuring all exchange houses abide by UAE laws and the regulations and standards issued by it to safeguard the transparency and integrity of the transactions of exchange houses.

Last month, the CBUAE fined 11 banks operating in the country a total of Dhs45.75m.

Read: UAE Central Bank imposes fines worth Dhs45.75m on 11 banks

The penalties were based on the banks’ failures to achieve appropriate levels of compliance regarding their anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance frameworks as at the end of 2019.

This month, the reopening of prominent exchange houses including UAE Exchange and Xpress Money moved a step closer to realisation after Prism Group and Abu Dhabi’s Royal Strategic Partners, the consortium working on the revitalisation of UAE Exchange and Xpress Money parent company Finablr, appointed Matrix International Financial Services to develop financial crime prevention systems and processes across the group.

Read also: UAE-Israeli consortium moves closer to reopening Finablr