The UAE anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-financing of terrorism (CFT) laws require businesses such as the Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions (DNFBPs) and Virtual Assets Service Providers (VASPs) to have in place adequate record-keeping system wherein the logs, details, documentation and measures, communications with authorities and customers related documentations as archived and catalogued for easy access for providing to the authorities as and when required.
The following factors discuss the importance of maintaining records:
AML recordkeeping makes it possible to access records containing customer details, analyse historical data, identify patterns, and help assess risks associated with a customer.
Having a proper recordkeeping system in place helps identify unusual buying history and transaction patterns. By comparing historical data to assess the consistency of transactions with individual profiles, alerts can be generated for the compliance team.
With record keeping the compliance team can set rules based on the historical data and proactively monitor transactions and customer behaviour.
The UAE AML/CFT law and its various supervisory authorities, such as Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), etc., have prescribed minimum period for mandatory record-keeping requirements. Such time-period for record-keeping vary from authority to authority.
The answer to many ambiguities and confusions concerning a customer or transaction lies in the records and data maintained that contain their details. Such details of useful data associated with a transaction (name, ID, nationality, date of birth, occupation, etc.) can be maintained for record-keeping purposes so that clarity can be obtained and preserved for future use of such records.
Having in place an adequate, appropriate, and accessible record-keeping mechanism helps in risk mitigation.
Thus, ongoing monitoring of business relationships is a significant component of AML compliance in UAE, helping businesses such as DNFBPs and VASPs to combat the risk of ML/FT and PF effectively.
The RapidAML software can help businesses with KYC, screening, case management and meeting their regulatory requirement for mandatory record keeping.
