CBUAE fines foreign bank branch AED 20 million

June 24, 2026 / 7:17 PM

Sharjah 24 – WAM: The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) imposed a financial penalty of AED20 million on a branch of a foreign bank, pursuant to the provisions of the Federal Decree Law Regarding the Central Bank and Organisation of Financial Institutions and Activities, and its amendments.

AML and sanctions compliance failures identified

The financial penalty is based on the results of examinations conducted by the CBUAE, which revealed that the branch of the foreign bank had significant, repeated failures in its Anti-money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism and Illegal Organisations and Sanctions framework.

Additional penalty on compliance head

The CBUAE further imposed an individual penalty of AED300,000 on the Head of Compliance and Money Laundering Reporting Officer, due to his failure to fulfil his responsibilities and position functions.

The CBUAE, through its supervisory and regulatory mandates, endeavours to ensure that all banks, its authorised decision makers and staff abide by UAE laws, regulations and standards to safeguard transparency and integrity of the banking sector and the UAE financial system.