UAE strengthens efforts to counter money laundering
ABU DHABI — The United Arab Emirates has intensified efforts to counter money laundering and the financing of terrorism through the registration of beneficial ownership information in a unified database that will serve as a reference for stakeholders that include security agencies, police, and other enforcement bodies as they investigate financial crime.
The database will also work to strengthen international
cooperation by facilitating requests for information exchange by other
countries to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
The beneficial owner is the person that owns or controls a
company directly or indirectly by possessing more than 25 percent of the
ownership rights of the company and 25 percent or more of the voting power of
the company while maintaining the ability to recruit or dismiss most of the
members of the board of directors.
As part of the Cabinet decision, any failure to register
beneficial ownership data results in penalties in line with international
standards. Required information includes the name, gender, passport
information, nationality, email, and residence address of the beneficial owner
in question.
Hamid Al Zaabi, director-general of the Executive Office to
Combat Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, remarked: "Requirements
to register beneficial ownership data bring the UAE one step closer to
strengthening its anti-financial crime apparatus in line with international
best practices.
Ensuring compliance with the UAE’s regulatory system will
increase transparency and prevent abuses from occurring, which in turn will
advance the UAE’s leading role in regional and international efforts to counter
money laundering and the financing of terrorism wherever it occurs."
The registration of beneficial ownership data comes as part
of the UAE’s commitment to combating financial crime as a priority of the
country’s leadership. In February 2021, the UAE Cabinet approved the
establishment of the Executive Office to Combat Money Laundering and Terrorist
Financing to oversee the implementation of the UAE’s National AML/CFT Strategy
and National Action Plan, the program of reforms designed to strengthen the
UAE’s anti-financial crime system.
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