Page 439 - MOE ENGLISH PR REPORT - AUGUST 2024

8/16/24, 1:31 PM UAE suspends 32 gold refineries in anti-money laundering crackdown | The National
“This phenomenal growth has unfortunately brought risk, especially with respect to money

laundering, given the gold industry has in the past been a pathway for ill-gotten funds to

enter the financial system.

“No doubt live to this issue, the UAE Ministry of Economy has been both active and vocal
for a number of years now, in terms of outlining to UAE-based gold refineries the need to

tighten up their due diligence regulations (on both suppliers and customers) for the

responsible supply of gold in the region, otherwise these refineries run the risk of

sanctions and penalties. The suspensions imposed by the ministry this week are clearly in

respect of those refineries who have failed to heed the warnings.”

The Financial Action Task Force, the global anti–money laundering watchdog, removed
the UAE from its “grey list” earlier this year, noting it had made some “key reforms” to its

laws.

The country has made considerable efforts to shore up its anti-money laundering regime

and combat the financing of terrorism.

In 2021, it founded an Executive Office for Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-
Terrorism Financing after passing an anti-money laundering and terrorism financing law

in 2018.

The value of fines imposed by regulatory authorities in the field of AML/CFT between

January and October last year reached Dh249.2 million ($67.9 million), compared with

Dh76 million in 2022.

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