Tax Advisory — AML/CFT Compliance
Real estate brokers, precious metals dealers, company service providers and accounting firms are all Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions under UAE law — with mandatory AML/CFT obligations that carry real Ministry of Economy penalties for non-compliance. FMCA builds the risk assessment, registers your goAML profile, and puts the customer due diligence procedures in place that regulators actually check for.
Reviewed by FMCA's Senior Tax Advisory Team — registered FTA tax agents serving clients across the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Four areas of work, covering the obligations UAE regulators actually check for DNFBPs.
A business-specific risk assessment and the written policies regulators expect to see, not a generic template downloaded online.
Registration on the goAML platform handled correctly, with suspicious transaction reports filed as required, not skipped for lack of familiarity with the system.
Standard and enhanced due diligence procedures built into your actual onboarding process, not a checklist nobody follows.
Your designated AML Compliance Officer supported and trained to actually run the program day to day, not just appointed on paper.
DNFBP obligations aren't optional or advisory — they're actively enforced by the Ministry of Economy.
The Ministry of Economy issues significant fines to DNFBPs found non-compliant, applied per violation, not as a single one-off charge.
Repeated or serious non-compliance can result in licensing action against the business, not just a financial penalty.
Non-compliance findings are a real credibility issue with banks, partners and clients who increasingly check counterparty compliance status.
This applies alongside your company formation and accounting compliance obligations, not as a separate regulatory track most businesses can ignore.
The rules feel similar in spirit but sit under different oversight bodies with different expectations.
Our Approach
A policy document nobody follows isn't compliance. FMCA builds AML/CFT procedures into your actual client onboarding and transaction workflows, so the compliance officer has something practical to run, not a binder that sits on a shelf.
How We Work
Illustrative scenarios based on the kind of work we do — not descriptions of specific named clients.
An overdue goAML registration was completed and the risk assessment documented before a scheduled Ministry of Economy inspection.
Customer due diligence steps were embedded directly into the existing sales workflow, so compliance happened as a normal part of each transaction, not a separate afterthought.
The designated AML Compliance Officer was trained on suspicious transaction identification ahead of the firm's own client base being reviewed.
Related Insights
FAQ
Real estate agents and brokers, dealers in precious metals and stones, company service providers, and independent accountants, auditors and lawyers are the core categories.
Yes — the obligation applies based on business activity, not size or transaction volume.
Enhanced due diligence applies to higher-risk customers or transactions — politically exposed persons, complex ownership structures, or unusually large cash transactions — and requires additional verification beyond standard checks.
The role can often be assigned to an existing senior employee, provided they're properly trained and have genuine authority to act on compliance matters.
Inspectors typically review your risk assessment, policies, CDD records and goAML registration status — having these properly documented in advance is the best preparation.
Tell us where things stand and a senior consultant will get back to you directly — not a call centre.
