Law no. 4/2002 dated 22/01/2002,

Federal Decree-Law No. 26 dated 13/09/2021

In application of the provisions of the present Decree-Law, the following terms and expressions shall have the meanings assigned against each, unless the context requires otherwise:

State: The United Arab Emirates.

Ministry: The Ministry of Finance.

Minister: The Minister of Finance.

Central Bank: The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates.

Governor: The Governor of the Central Bank.

Committee: The National Committee for Combating Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism and Illegal Organisations.

FIU: The Financial Intelligence Unit.

Supervisory Authority: The federal and local authorities which are entrusted under legislation with the control of Financial Institutions, Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions, Virtual Asset Service Providers and Non-Profit Organisations, or the competent authority in charge of approving the pursuit of an activity or a profession in case no Supervisory Authority is determined by the legislation.

Law Enforcement Authorities: The federal and local authorities which are entrusted under the applicable legislation to combat, search, investigate and collect evidence on the Crimes, including Money Laundering, Financing of Terrorism and Financing of Illegal Organisations.

Concerned Authorities: The government authorities concerned with the implementation of any provision of the present Decree-Law in the State.

Predicate Offence: Any act which constitutes a felony or a misdemeanour under the applicable legislation in the State, whether such an act is committed inside or outside the State whenever it is punishable in both States.

Money Laundering: Any of the acts set out in Clause (1) of Article (2) of the present Decree-Law.

Financing of Terrorism: Any of the acts set out in Articles (29, 30) of aforementioned Federal Law No. (7) of 2014.

Illegal Organisations: The organisations whose establishment is criminalised or the organisations which exercise a criminalised activity.

Financing of Illegal Organisations: Any physical act or legal action aiming at providing funding to an Illegal Organisation or to any of its activities or members.

Crime: Money Laundering and the related Predicate Offences or the Financing of Terrorism or Illegal Organisations.

Funds: The assets however the manner of their acquisition and whatever their form, whether tangible or intangible, movable or immovable, electronic, digital or crypto, including the national currency, foreign currencies, legal documents and instruments in any form, including electronic or digital, that evidence ownership of those assets or the shares or rights related thereto, as well as the economic resources considered as assets regardless of their form, including natural resources, bank credits, cheques, payment orders, shares, securities, deeds, bills of exchange, letters of credit and any other returns, profits or incomes derived or generated from such assets, and that may be used to obtain any funding, goods or services.

Virtual Assets: A digital representation of value that is digitally tradable or convertible, and that may be used for payment, investment and other purposes as set out in the Implementing Regulation of the present Decree-Law.

Proceeds: The Funds generated directly or indirectly from the perpetration of any felony or misdemeanour including profits, privileges and economic interests, and any similar Funds that are fully or partially converted into other Funds.

Instrumentalities: Whatever is used or intended to be used in any form to commit a felony or a misdemeanour.

Suspicious Transactions: The transactions related to Funds for which there are reasonable grounds to believe that they are derived from any felony or misdemeanour or they are related to the Financing of Terrorism or Illegal Organisations, whether committed or attempted.

Freezing or Seizure: The temporary prohibition from transferring, converting, moving, replacing or disposing of Funds in any form by order of a Competent Authority.

Confiscation: The permanent expropriation of private Funds, Proceeds or Instrumentalities by order of a competent court.

Financial Institutions: Whoever undertakes one or more of the financial activities or transactions set out in the Implementing Regulation of the present Decree-Law for a Customer or on behalf thereof.

Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions: Whoever undertakes one or more of the commercial or professional activities set out in the Implementing Regulation of the present Decree-Law.

Non-Profit Organisations: Any not-for-profit organised group with a continuing nature for a specified or an unspecified duration comprising of natural or legal persons or a Legal Arrangement, which collects, receives or disburses Funds for charitable, religious, cultural, educational, social, solidarity or any other charitable activities.

Legal Arrangement: The relationship established under a contract between two or more parties including but not limited to trust funds or other similar arrangements.

Customer: Whoever carries out or attempts to carry out any of the activities set out in the Implementing Regulations of the present Decree-Law with one of the Financial Institutions, Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions or Virtual Asset Service Providers.

Beneficial Owner: A natural person who has or exercises effective ultimate control over the Customer or the natural person on whose behalf the Transactions are carried out, or the person who has effective ultimate control over a legal person or a Legal Arrangement, whether directly or through a chain of ownership, control or other indirect means.

Virtual Asset Service Providers: Any natural or legal person whose business consists of one or more of the Virtual Asset activities set out in the Implementing Regulation of the present Decree-Law, or the related Transactions carried out for another natural or legal person or on behalf thereof.

Transaction: Any disposal or use of the Funds or Proceeds, including for example the deposit, withdrawal, conversion, sale, purchase, lending, swap, mortgage and donation.

Registrar: The authority in charge of supervising the register of commercial names for various types of establishments registered in the State.

Customer Due Diligence (CDD): The process of identifying or verifying the information of the Customer or Beneficial Owner, be him a natural or legal person or a Legal Arrangement, the nature of his activity, the purpose of the business relationship and the structure of ownership and control thereof, for the purposes of the present Decree-Law and its Implementing Regulation.

Controlled Delivery: A method whereby the Competent Authority allows, under its control, the entry, passage, transit or exit of illegal or suspicious Funds or Proceeds of the Crime to and from the State territories for the purpose of investigating a Crime and identifying its perpetrators.

Undercover Operation: A search and investigation method whereby a law enforcement officer uses an identity other than his own or plays a disguised or false role to obtain evidence or information related to the Crime.

1- Whoever had the knowledge that the Funds are derived from a Predicate Offence and wilfully commits any of the acts set out here below shall be considered as committing Money Laundering:

a- Transferring or moving the Proceeds or conducting any Transaction in respect thereof with the intent of concealing or disguising their illicit source.

b- Concealing or disguising the true nature, source or location of the Proceeds as well as the manner of disposal thereof, their movement, their ownership or the rights related thereto.

c- Acquiring, possessing or using the Proceeds upon receiving them.

d- Assisting the perpetrator of the Predicate Offence to escape punishment.

2- Money Laundering shall be considered an independent crime, and the punishment of the perpetrator of the Predicate Offence shall not preclude his punishment for Money Laundering.

3- The conviction for the Predicate Offence shall not be required to prove the illicit source of the Proceeds.

Without prejudice to the provisions of Federal Law No. (3) of 1987 referred to, and Federal Law No. (7) of 2014 referred to herein:

1- Is guilty of the crime of financing terrorism anyone who intentionally commits any of the following:

a- Any of the acts specified in Clause (1) of Article (2) of the present Decree-Law, if he is aware that the proceeds are wholly or partly owned by a terrorist organisation or terrorist person or intended to finance a terrorist organisation, a terrorist person or a terrorism crime, even if it without the intention to conceal or disguise their illicit origin.

b- Providing, collecting, preparing or obtaining Proceeds or facilitating their obtainment by others with intent to use them, or while knowing that such proceeds will be used in whole or in part for the commitment of a terrorist offense, or if he has committed such acts on behalf of a terrorist organisation or a terrorist person while aware of their true background or purpose.

2- Is guilty of financing illegal organisations crime anyone who intentionally commits any of the following:

a- Any of the acts specified in Clause (1) of Article (2) of this Decree-Law, if he is aware that the proceeds are wholly or partly owned by an illegal organisation or by any person belonging to it or intended to finance any of them, even if without the intention to conceal or disguise their illicit origin.

b- Providing, collecting, preparing, obtaining Proceeds or facilitating their obtainment by others with intent to use them, or while knowing that such proceeds will be used in whole or in part for the benefit of an Illegal organisation or of any of its members, with knowledge of its true background or purpose.

The legal person shall be criminally responsible for the crime if it is committed in its name or for his account intentionally, without prejudice to the personal criminal responsibility of the perpetrator and the administrative penalties as prescribed by law.

1- The Governor or his delegate shall have the right to freeze suspicious funds deposited at financial institutions for no more than (7) seven working days, in accordance with the rules and controls stipulated in the Implementing Regulation of the present Decree-Law, renewable by order of the public prosecutor or his delegate.

2- The Public Prosecution and the competent court, as the case may be, shall request the identification, tracking, or evaluation of suspicious funds, proceeds and instrumentalities or of whatever is of equivalent value or seizing or freezing them if they are the result of, or in connection with, the crime without pre-advising the owner and issuing a travel ban until the investigation or trial is completed.

3- The Public prosecution and the competent court, as the case may be, when need be, shall take the necessary decision to prohibit trading or disposing of such funds, proceeds and instrumentalities and take the necessary actions to prevent any act aiming at evading related freezing or seizing orders, without prejudice to the rights of bona fide third parties.

4- All freezing orders of funds held by financial institutions licensed by the CBUAE may be only be executed through the CBUAE.

5- Any grievance against the Public Prosecution's decision to freeze or seize shall be filed in accordance with the provisions of the present Article before the competent court in whose jurisdiction the public prosecution issuing the decision is located. If the grievance is rejected, a new one may be lodged only after the expiry of three months from the date of rejection of the previous one, unless there is a serious reason to do so before the expiry of that period.

6- The grievance shall be file by virtue of a report to be submitted to the competent court. The president of the court shall set a date to review the report and notify the plaintiff and any concerned parties of the date. The public prosecution shall submit a memorandum expressing its opinion on the grievance. The court shall issue its decision on this grievance within no more than (14) fourteen business days from the date of its submission.

7- The Public prosecution and the competent court, as the case may be, shall appoint whomever they find suitable to manage the funds, proceeds and instrumentalities seized, frozen or confiscated, also allowing the receiver to sell or dispose of it, even before the issuance of a court decision if needed. The proceeds of the sale shall be transferred to the UAE treasury in case of a final judgment of conviction. These funds shall be earmarked to any rights awarded legally to any party acting in good faith, proportionately to its value.

8- The Implementing Regulation of the present Decree-Law shall define the rules and procedures for implementing the dispositions of the present Article.

1- Without prejudice to the provisions of Article (5) of the present Decree-Law, no criminal proceedings shall be instituted against the perpetrator of Money Laundering, Financing of Terrorism or Financing of Illegal Organisations except by the Public Prosecutor or whoever he delegates.

2- The Public Prosecutor or whoever he delegates and the competent court, as the case may be, shall issue a decision to implement the necessary measures to protect the intelligence and the methods and approaches for obtaining same, or shall instruct the Competent Authorities to protect the witnesses, the undisclosed sources, the accused or the other parties involved in the case, if there is a serious concern for their safety.

1- The Public prosecution may, sua sponte or upon the request of the law enforcement authorities, and should there be sufficient evidence of the occurrence of the crime, shall request direct access to accounts, records and documents held by third parties and request access to the stored data in the computer system and information technology programs, memorandums, correspondences and packages, identify track and seize the funds, control the accounts, issue travel bans and other procedures aiding in uncovering the crime and its perpetrators without prejudice to the legislation applicable to the UAE.

2- The Law Enforcement Authorities may conduct undercover operations and adopt other investigative methods and initiate the controlled delivery operation aimed at detecting the crime or its evidence or identifying the source and destination of the funds, proceeds or instrumentalities or arresting the perpetrators without prejudice to the legislations applicable in the UAE.

3- Any person involved in an undercover operation or a controlled delivery operation by Law Enforcement Authorities or any act that it is punishable under law shall not be held criminally responsible unless such person has instigated the perpetration of the crime or exceeded the powers granted to them by the Law Enforcement Authorities, or instigated the perpetration of the crime.

4- The Competent authorities in the UAE shall keep comprehensive statistics on the reports of suspicious transactions, investigations and crime-related judgments, seized, frozen or confiscated funds, international cooperation requests and any statistics related to the efficiency and sufficiency of crime combating procedures.

Any person shall disclose whenever he brings into the UAE or take out thereof any currency or bearer negotiable instruments or precious metals or stones of value, in accordance with the disclosure system issued by the Central Bank.

The Central Bank shall establish an independent “Financial Intelligence Unit” to which the Suspicious Transaction Reports and the related information shall be exclusively sent from all the Financial Institutions, Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions and Virtual Asset Service Providers. The FIU shall examine and analyse said reports and information and shall refer them to the Competent Authorities, either automatically or upon request. The FIU shall exercise the following competences:

1- Requesting the Financial Institutions, Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions, Virtual Asset Service Providers and Concerned Authorities to submit any additional information or documents related to the received reports and information as well as other any information it may deem necessary for the discharge of its functions, on the date and in the form determined by the FIU.

2- Exchanging information with its counterparts in the other States on Suspicious Transaction Reports or any other information which the FIU has power of access thereto directly or indirectly under international conventions to which the State is a party or any agreements signed by the FIU with its counterparts for governing the cooperation therewith or the condition of reciprocity. The FIU may inform its counterparts of the findings derived from the use of the information provided and the analyses conducted based on such information. This information may only be used for the purposes of combating the Crime and it may not be disclosed to any third party without the approval of the FIU.

3- Establishing a database or a special register for the available information, protecting the information by setting rules governing the security and privacy thereof, including procedures for handling, archiving and transmitting the information, and making sure to restrict access to its facilities, information and technical systems.

4- Any other competences set out in the Implementing Regulation of the present Decree-Law.

1- The Public prosecution may seek the opinion of the FIU about incoming reports it receives related to cases of money laundering, financing of terrorism and of illegal organisations.

2- Law Enforcement Authorities shall be responsible for receiving and following-up on suspicious transactions reports received from the FIU and gathering related evidence.

3- Law Enforcement Authorities may obtain the information that it deems necessary to perform its duties from the relevant authorities as stipulated under the Implementing Regulation of the present Decree-Law.

A committee chaired by the Governor, called "National Committee for Combating Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism and Illegal Organisations", shall be established by virtue of the provisions of this Decree-Law. A decision on the formation of the Committee shall be issued by the Minister.

The Committee shall exercise the following competences:

1- Preparing and developing a national strategy for combatting the Crime, proposing related regulations, procedures and policies in coordination with the Concerned Authorities and monitoring their implementation.

2- Determining and assessing the risks of the Crime at national level.

3- Coordinating with the Concerned Authorities, referring to the sources of the information in the relevant international entities to identify high-risk States and States with weaknesses in their regulations on combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism, determining the countermeasures and other measures to be implemented in proportion to the risk level and directing the Supervisory Authorities to ensure that the Financial Institutions, Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions, Virtual Asset Service Providers and Non-Profit Organisations that fall under their supervision implement such measures.

4- Facilitating the exchange of information and coordinating among the bodies represented therein.

5- Collecting and analysing the statistics and other relevant information by the Concerned Authorities to assess the effectiveness of the regulation on combating Money laundering, Financing of Terrorism and Financing of Illegal Organisations.

6- Representing the State in international forums on combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism.

7- Proposing the regulation governing the work of the Committee, and presenting same to the Minister for approval.

8- Any other matters referred thereto by the Concerned Authorities in the State.

The Supervisory Authorities shall, each within its own competence, discharge supervision, monitoring and follow-up functions to ensure compliance with the provisions of the present Decree-Law, its Implementing Regulation, the regulatory decisions and any other relevant decisions. It may exercise the following competences in particular:

1- Conduct a risk assessment on the likelihood of perpetration of the Crime within Financial Institutions, Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions, Virtual Asset activities, activities of Virtual Asset Service Providers and Non-Profit Organisations.

2- Conduct office and field audits and inspections over Financial Institutions, Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions, Virtual Asset Service Providers and Non-Profit Organisations.

3- Issue decisions on the administrative penalties in accordance with the provisions of the present Decree-Law and its Implementing Regulation as well as the grievance mechanism, and maintain the statistics on the measures implemented and the penalties imposed.

4- Any other competences set out in the Implementing Regulation of the present Decree-Law.

1- Without prejudice to any more severe administrative penalty provided by any other legislation, the Supervisory Authority shall impose the following administrative penalties upon the Financial Institutions, Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions, Virtual Asset Service Providers and Non-Profit Organisations that fall under its supervision in case they violate any provision of the present Decree-Law, its Implementing Regulation, the regulatory decisions or any other related decisions:

a- Warning.

b- Administrative penalty not less than (AED 50,000) fifty thousand dirhams and not more than (AED 5,000,000) five million dirhams for each violation.

c- Banning the violator from working in the sector related to the violation for the period specified by the Supervisory Authority.

d- Restricting the powers of the members of the Board of Directors, the members of the executive or supervisory management, the directors or the owners who are proven to be responsible for the violation, including the appointment of a temporary controller.

e- Arresting the managers, the members of the Board of Directors or the members of the executive and supervisory management who are proven to be responsible for the violation, for the period specified by the Supervisory Authority, or requesting their replacement.

f- Suspending or restricting the exercise of the activity or the profession for the period specified by the Supervisory Authority.

g- Revoking the licence.

2- Notwithstanding Paragraph (g) of Clause (1) of this Article, the Supervisory Authority may, upon imposing the administrative penalties, order the submission of regular reports on the measures taken to address the violation.

3- In any case, the Supervisory Authority shall publish the administrative penalties it imposes using various means of publication.

If the Financial Institutions, Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions and Virtual Asset Service Providers suspect or have reasonable grounds to suspect that a Transaction or Funds fully or partially constitute Proceeds, or that such Transaction or Funds are related to the Crime or that they will be used therein regardless of their value, they shall inform the FIU directly without delay and provide it with a detailed report including all the data and information available on such Transaction and the parties related thereto, and they shall provide any additional information requested by the FIU without using the confidentiality provisions as an excuse. Lawyers, notaries, other legal professionals and independent legal auditors shall be exempt from the foregoing provision if the information related to such Transactions was obtained under professional confidentiality.

The Implementing Regulation of the present Decree-Law shall set the rules, controls and cases relating to the obligation to report suspicious information.

1- Financial institutions and designated nonfinancial businesses and professions shall:

a- Identify the crime risks within its scope of work as well as continuously assess, document, and update such assessment based on the various risk factors established in the Implementing Regulation of this Decree-Law and maintain a risk identification and assessment analysis with its supporting data to be provided to the Supervisory Authority upon request.

b- Take the necessary due diligence measures and procedures and define their scope, taking into account the various risk factors and the results of the national risk assessment and retain the records received during the implementation of this process. The Implementing Regulation of the present Decree-Law shall specify the cases in which such procedures and measures are applied, and the conditions for deferring the completion of customer or real beneficiary identity verification.

c- Refrain from opening or conducting any financial or commercial transaction under an anonymous or fictitious name or by pseudonym or number, and maintaining a relationship or providing any services to it.

d- Develop internal policies, controls and procedures approved by senior management to enable them to manage the risks identified and mitigate them, and to review and update them continuously, and apply this to all subsidiaries and affiliates in which they hold a majority stake; the Implementing Regulations of this Decree-Law shall specify what should be included in said policies, controls and procedures.

e- Prompt application of the directives when issued by the competent authorities in the state for implementing the decisions issued by the UN Security Council under Chapter (7) of UN Convention for the Prohibition and Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism and Proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and other related directives.

f- Maintain all records, documents, and data for all transactions, whether local or international, and make this information available to the competent authorities promptly upon request, as stipulated in the Implementing Regulation of this Decree-Law.

g- Any other obligations stipulated in the Implementing Regulation of this Decree-Law.

2- For the purposes of this Decree-Law, the Implementing Regulation of this Decree-Law shall regulate:

a- Obligations of non-profit organisations.

b- Retaining information and records by the registrar, to be provided upon request and taking procedures for access to the public.

c- Retaining information and records by the legal person and legal arrangement, and making it available upon request.

1- Any natural or legal person shall be prohibited from engaging in the activities of Virtual Asset Service Providers or any financial activities without licence, entry or registration, as the case may be, by the competent Supervisory Authorities.

2- For the purposes of the present Decree-Law, the Implementing Regulation shall regulate the obligations of Virtual Asset Service Providers.

The information obtained in relation to a Suspicious Transaction or to one of the Crimes provided for in the present Decree-Law shall be deemed confidential and may only be disclosed to the extent necessary for its use in investigations, prosecutions or cases related to the violation of the provisions of the present Decree-Law.

1- The competent judicial authority shall, upon request of a judicial authority of another country bound by an enforceable agreement with the UAE or by virtue of the reciprocity principle, provide judicial assistance in relation to investigation, court trials or procedures relevant to the crime and issue orders as follows:

a- Identify, freeze, seize or confiscate any funds, proceeds and instrumentalities generated from the crime, used or intended to be used in the crime or take any other procedures applicable under the enforceable legislations in the UAE, including, to provide records retained by financial institutions, or designated nonfinancial businesses and professions or non-profit organisations, to inspect persons and buildings, to collect witnesses’ statements, gather evidences, use investigative methods including undercover missions, intercepting communications, collecting statements and electronic data and controlled delivery.

b- Extradite, handover and handback persons and items relevant to the crime in a prompt manner in accordance with the legislations applicable in the UAE.

2- The competent authorities shall exchange information related to the Crime promptly with the foreign authorities, respond to requests made by any competent entity in the foreign countries which are bound by an applicable convention with the UAE or in accordance with the reciprocity principle. The competent authorities shall gather information from the relevant authorities in the UAE and take the necessary action to ensure the confidentiality of the information is used only for its intended purpose stated in the request for information and in accordance with applicable legislations in the UAE.

1- The Concerned Authorities shall give priority to requests for international cooperation related to the provisions of the present Decree-Law and they shall execute them promptly and take efficient measures to maintain confidentiality of the information received.

2- In application of the provisions of the present Decree-Law, no request for international cooperation based on any of the grounds set out here-below may be rejected:

a- The Crime involves tax or financial matters.

b- The Crime is political or is related to politics.

c- The confidentiality provisions are binding upon the Financial Institutions and Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions in conformity with the legislation applicable in the State.

d- The request is connected to a Crime under investigation or judicial prosecution in the State unless the request will impede the investigation or prosecution.

e- Any other cases set out in the Implementing Regulation of the present Decree-Law.

Any court injunction or court decision providing for the confiscation of funds, proceeds or instrumentalities relating to money-laundering, terrorist financing or financing of illegal organisations issued by a court or judicial authority of another State with which the State has a ratified Convention may be recognized.

The imposition of penalties provided for in this Decree-Law shall not prejudice any harsher penalty provided for in any other law.

1- Whoever commits one of the acts set out in Clause (1) of Article (2) of the present Decree-Law shall be punished by imprisonment for a term not less than one year and not exceeding (10) ten years and by a fine not less than AED 100,000 (one hundred thousand dirhams) and not more than AED 5,000,000 (five million dirhams) or by either of these two penalties.

2- The punishment shall consist of temporary imprisonment and a fine not less than AED 300,000 (three hundred thousand dirhams) and not more than AED 10,000,000 (ten million dirhams) if the perpetrator commits Money Laundering in any of the following cases:

a- If he abuses his influence or the power vested in him by virtue of his profession or his professional activity.

b- If the crime is committed through a Non-Profit Organisation.

c- If the crime is committed through an organised criminal group.

d- In case of recidivism.

3- An attempt to commit Money Laundering shall be punished by the full penalty prescribed therefor.

4- Whoever uses the Proceeds in the Financing of Terrorism shall be punished by a life sentence or by temporary imprisonment for a term not less than (10) ten years and by a fine not less than AED 300,000 (three hundred thousand dirhams) and not more than AED 10,000,000 (ten million dirhams).

5- Whoever uses the Proceeds in the Financing of Illegal Organisations shall be punished by temporary imprisonment and by a fine not less than AED 300,000 (three hundred thousand dirhams) and not more than AED 10,000,000 (ten million dirhams).

6- The Court may, at the request of the Public Prosecutor or whoever he delegates or sua sponte, commute or exempt from the sentence imposed upon the perpetrators who provide the judicial or administrative authorities with information relating to any of the Crimes punishable under this Article, whenever this leads to the detection of the Crime or its perpetrators, the establishment of their perpetration thereof, the arrest of any of them or the seizure of the Proceeds of the Crime.

1- Any legal person whose representatives, managers or agents commit for his account or in his name any of the Crimes set out in the present Decree-Law shall be punished by a fine not less than AED 500,000 (five hundred thousand dirhams) and not more than AED 50,000,000 (fifty million dirhams).

2- If the legal person is convicted of Financing of Terrorism or Financing of Illegal Organisations, the court shall order his dissolution and the closure of his offices where he exercises his activity.

3- In case the legal person is convicted of any of the Crimes set out in Clause (1) of Article (2), or Article (8) of the present Decree-Law, the court may prohibit him from exercising his activity for a specific period or it may revoke the licence, entry or registration for the exercise of the activity.

4- Upon issuance of the conviction, the court may order the publication of the abstract of judgment using the appropriate mean at the expense of sentenced.

Imprisonment and a fine of no less than AED 100,000 (one hundred thousand) and no more than AED 1,000,000 (one million dirham) or any of those two sanctions is applied to anyone who violates on purpose or by gross negligence the provision Article (15) of this Decree Law.

Whoever notifies or warns a person or reveals Transactions that are being reviewed in relation to Suspicious Transactions or being investigated by the Competent Authorities or any information related to the violation of the provisions of Article (17) of the present Decree-Law shall be punished by imprisonment for a term not less than one year and by a fine not less than AED 100,000 (one hundred thousand dirhams) and not more than AED 500,000 (five hundred thousand dirhams) or by either of these two penalties.

Whoever obtains or conceals Funds or carries out any Transaction in respect thereof shall be punished by imprisonment for a term not less than (3) three months and by a fine not less than AED 50,000 (fifty thousand dirhams) or by either of these two penalties, whenever there is sufficient evidence or there are sufficient presumptions that the source of the Funds is illicit.

The court shall, upon issuance of the conviction, order Confiscation in accordance with the provisions of Article (26) of the present Decree-Law.

1- In case the perpetration of the Crime is established, the court shall order the Confiscation of the following:

a- The Funds subject of the Crime, the Proceeds and the Instrumentalities.

b- Any Funds owned by the perpetrator that are of equal value to the Funds, Proceeds and Instrumentalities set out in Paragraph (a) of this Clause, in case their Confiscation proves impossible.

If it is impossible to order the Confiscation of the Funds, Proceeds or Instrumentalities due to the impossibility of their seizure or to their relation to the rights bona fide third parties, the court shall impose a fine of equal value thereto at the time of perpetration of the Crime.

2- The Confiscation shall be executed irrespective of whether the Funds, Proceeds or Instrumentalities are in the possession or under the ownership of the perpetrator or another party, without prejudice to the rights of bona fide third parties.

3- The perpetrator’s unknown identity, the exclusion of his criminal liability or the termination of the criminal lawsuit in a Crime punishable under the provisions of the present Decree-Law shall not preclude the competent court ordering, sua sponte or at the request of the Public Prosecution, as the case may be, the Confiscation of the Funds, Proceeds and Instrumentalities seized if their relation to the Crime is established.

4- Without prejudice to the rights of bona fide third parties, any contract or act shall be void if the parties thereto or any one of them have known or should have known that the contract or the act aims to affect the ability of the Competent Authorities to enforce the Seizure or Freezing or to order or execute the Confiscation.

Whoever violates the provisions of Article (16 bis) of the present Decree-Law shall be punished by imprisonment for a term not less than (6) six months and by a fine not less than AED 200,000 (two hundred thousand dirhams) and not more than AED 5,000,000 (five million dirhams) or by either of these two penalties.

Supervisory authorities, FIU, Law Enforcement Authorities, designated nonfinancial businesses and professions, their board members, employees and legally authorized representatives are exempted from criminal, civil or administrative responsibility in relation to their providing any requested information or violating any obligation under legislative, contractual and administrative directives aimed at securing confidentiality of information unless the disclosure is made in bad faith or with the intent of causing damages to others.

Whoever violates the directives issued by the Concerned Authority in the State regarding the implementation of the UN Security Council resolutions under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter on the Prevention and Suppression of Terrorism and its Financing and of the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Financing and other related resolutions shall be punished by imprisonment for a term not less than one year and not exceeding (7) seven years and by a fine not less than AED 50,000 (fifty thousand dirhams) and not more than AED 5,000,000 (five million dirhams) or by either of these two penalties.

1- If a custodial sentence is rendered against a foreigner in a Money Laundering Crime or any of the felonies set out in the present Decree-Law, his deportation from the State shall be ordered.

2- Without prejudice to Clause (1) of this Article, if a custodial sentence is rendered against a foreigner in the other misdemeanours provided under the present Decree-Law, the court may order his deportation from the State, or it may order his deportation in lieu of the custodial sentence.

3- The criminal case shall not be subject to the statute of limitations in Money Laundering, Financing of Terrorism or Financing of Illegal Organisations, and the sentence shall not be remitted nor shall the civil actions arising therefrom or related thereto be terminated due to the statute of limitations.

4- The provisions of the present Decree-Law shall be without prejudice to the provisions of aforementioned Federal Law No (7) of 2014.

5- The Financing of Illegal Organisations, if the purpose thereof is to undermine State security or interests, the Financing of Terrorism and the Crime punishable under Article (28) of the present Decree-Law shall constitute Crimes against the State’s internal and external security.

Imprisonment and a fine or one of the two penalties to anyone who intentionally fails to disclose or refrains from providing additional information upon request from him or deliberately conceals information that must be disclosed or deliberately presents incorrect information, in violation of the provisions provided for in Article 8 of this Decree-Law. Upon conviction, the Court may rule on the confiscation of seized funds without prejudice to the rights of others acting in good faith

Imprisonment or a fine of no less than AED 10,000 (ten thousand dirhams) and no more than AED 100,000 (one hundred thousand dirhams) shall be applied to any person who violates any other provision of this Decree-Law.

Employees appointed by a decision of the Minister of Justice, in coordination with the Governor, shall have the status of law enforcement officers in proving acts that are in violation of the provisions of this Decree Law or its Implementing Regulations or the decisions issued thereunder.

The Cabinet shall issue the Implementing Regulation of this Decree-Law based upon the proposal of Minister.

1- Any provision that violates or conflicts with the provisions of this Decree-Law shall be revoked.

2- Federal Law no. (4) of 2002 on the criminalization of money laundering and combatting of the financing of terrorism shall be abrogated.

The present Decree-Law shall be published in the Official Gazette to be entered into effect one month from the date of publication.