The UAEs new AML policies are putting several DNFBPs at risk of severe repercussions. Companies are subject to significant fines, suspension of licenses and even complete closure of business if any of the 26 policies are violated. Inspections from authorities are leading to several companies losing hundreds of thousands of dirhams in solely fines for AML violations. Following the latest AML policies and procedure updates can be overwhelming, difficult to track and confusing but Idenfo Direct has prepared a manual of how you can ensure that your company is constantly in compliance with their policies. Minimize the risk of your company losing anything from funds to licenses by following our manual.
Conducting client due diligence may seem obvious but Idenfo Direct completes an enhanced due diligence check on each potential client approaching your company. Along with verifying the employee’s background, we also complete anti-money laundering checks through our software that includes global sanction lists as well as the UAE Central Bank sanctions list to determine whether the customer was ever involved in anything risky. We conduct adverse media searches to check if the potential customer’s name has ever been mentioned in any negative news. Along with that, our risk scoring services help your company make the right decision about whether or not to on-board the customer. Idenfo Direct completes a holistic and complete KYC examination that will ensure you don’t face any penalisation from the UAE government. In addition to the above mentioned services, we include tracking the potential customer’s activity timeline, to their documentation uploading and many more.
Apart from the procedures when onboarding customers, companies must also track their transactions, especially large or complex transactions. Companies must be aware and alert when large sums of money are involved to ensure none of it is ending up in the wrong set of hands, therefore systems should automatically flag such transactions for review. Disallowing any level of anonymity in financial transactions is also a surefire way to ensure that you are aware of exactly who you are dealing with. Allowing anonymity creates too much ambiguity in your transactions. Keeping tabs on odd patterns is also crucial, because it isn’t always necessary that the large transactions will be the troublesome ones, at times, a pattern of smaller ones will reveal illegal activity.
With the way that the UAE government is handling these violations, it is not optional for your company to be taking these precautions, from both onboarding to ongoing transactions. Vigilance is necessary to avoid any type of violation and Idenfo Direct will remain vigilant even when you can’t.
