DUBAI (Reuters) – The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates has issued new anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing guidelines for financial institutions when dealing with virtual assets, such as cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens, it announced on Wednesday.
The new guidelines address risks arising from transactions with virtual assets and virtual asset service providers, including due diligence for licensed financial institutions when dealing with such customers and counterparties, the statement said.
The guidelines, which will come into effect in a month, apply to banks, finance companies, exchange houses, payment service providers, registered hawala providers and insurance companies, agents and brokers.
The bank said the guidelines take into account Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards.
In March 2022, the FATF placed the UAE on a list of jurisdictions subject to increased scrutiny, known as its “grey list”. The UAE responded by saying it was committed to working closely with the FATF to improve.
(Reporting by Clauda Tanios; Writing by Lisa Barrington; Editing by Sharon Singleton)