AML Compliance & goAML Registration Services in UAE
Anti-money-laundering compliance in the UAE is not just for banks. If your business is a DNFBP — a Designated Non-Financial Business or Profession — you have mandatory obligations under Federal Decree-Law No. 20 of 2018 and its amendments: registration on the goAML portal, a documented AML/CFT programme, customer due diligence, and suspicious transaction reporting. The Ministry of Economy and supervisory authorities actively inspect DNFBPs, and penalties for non-registration and weak programmes run from AED 50,000 into the millions. We build and run AML compliance for UAE businesses end to end.
Who Must Register on goAML?
DNFBPs required to comply include:
- Real estate agents and brokers handling purchases and sales;
- Dealers in precious metals and stones — gold, jewellery, diamonds — for qualifying cash transactions;
- Auditors and accountants in independent practice;
- Corporate service providers — company formation agents, trustees, nominee providers;
- Lawyers and notaries when conducting relevant financial transactions for clients.
Virtual asset service providers face parallel, stricter regimes under their own regulators. If your trade licence includes any of these activities — even as a side line — the obligation attaches.
What AML Compliance Actually Requires
- goAML registration with the FIU via your supervisory authority, including SACM registration where applicable;
- Appointment of a Compliance Officer / MLRO with defined responsibilities;
- A written AML/CFT policy with a business risk assessment tailored to your activity — not a downloaded template;
- Customer due diligence (KYC/CDD) procedures, including enhanced due diligence for high-risk customers and PEPs, and UBO identification;
- Sanctions and targeted financial sanctions screening against UAE and UN lists, with documented processes for the Executive Office's requirements;
- Suspicious Transaction Reports (STR/SAR) filed through goAML when triggers arise;
- Staff training and annual programme review with records inspectors will ask for.
Our AML Services
We handle goAML registration from start to finish, draft your risk assessment and AML policy around your real business, set up CDD and screening workflows your team can actually follow, act as or support your compliance officer, prepare you for Ministry of Economy inspections, and file STRs correctly when needed. For firms we already serve with bookkeeping or audit, AML sits naturally alongside — one team seeing the full picture of your transactions.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the penalty for not registering on goAML?
Supervisory authorities have imposed fines starting around AED 50,000 for failure to register, with substantially higher penalties — up to AED 1 million or more — for systemic AML programme failures. Licence suspension is also a real enforcement tool.
My company is small — do I still need an AML programme?
Yes, if you fall in a DNFBP category. Obligations are risk-based, so a small firm's programme can be proportionate — but "proportionate" is not "nonexistent," and inspectors expect documentation.
Is goAML registration a one-time task?
Registration is once, but compliance is ongoing: annual risk assessment reviews, screening, training records, and reporting continue every year.
Received an inspection notice, or never registered? Tell us your licence activity and we'll map your exact obligations and a fixed fee to become compliant.
Get AML Compliant | Call or WhatsApp: +971 52 406 3000