UAE suspends 32 gold refineries for AML/CTF lapses

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The UAE Ministry of Finance temporarily suspended 32 gold refineries in the country for failing to sufficiently address money laundering, financing of terrorism and other related deficiencies, according to Emirates News Agency.

A statement issued by the ministry said that licences of these refineries, which represent 5 per cent of the country’s gold sector, were suspended for three months from July 24 to October 24, 2024.

The decision follows a series of field inspections by the authority focusing on the trade and manufacturing activities of precious metals and gemstones to ensure the highest levels of AML compliance within the gold sector. The ministry didn’t disclose the names of the refineries.

The ministry said its inspections of the refineries uncovered 256 violations, eight for each refinery. The most prominent violations were not taking necessary measures and procedures to identify risks, not notifying the Financial Information Unit of suspicious transactions, and not examining customer and transaction databases against names included in the terrorism lists.

“The UAE affirms its firm commitment to developing an integrated legislative and regulatory system to combat money laundering and achieve the highest levels of compliance with the policy on due diligence regulations for the responsible gold supply chain by keeping pace with the best global practices in this regard,” said Abdullah Ahmed Al Saleh, the undersecretary of the UAE’s Ministry of Economy.

Meanwhile, the UAE central bank fined a local bank $1.6m (Dhs5.8m) earlier this week for failing to sufficiently address money laundering and financing of terrorism and other related deficiencies.

The central bank imposed the hefty fine after an examination found deficiencies in the bank’s AML/CFT policies and procedures.

The UAE 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.