UAE Central Bank imposes sanctions on finance company for not complying with guidelines

The UAE Central Bank imposed financial and administrative sanctions on a finance company for failing to submit its audited financial statements on time and not complying with guidelines.

The unnamed company was fined on May 18 as per the “Decretal Federal Law No (14) of 2018 regarding the Central Bank and the Organisation of Financial Institutions and Activities, as amended, the Finance Companies Regulation and Consumer Protection Regulations”, the banking regulator said on Tuesday.

The company was asked to “remedy its shortcomings” within a month of the notification after it was found to be in contravention of the consumer protection regulations and complaint management system rule book. The regulator did not reveal how much the company was fined. “Through its supervisory and regulatory mandates, the CBUAE works to ensure that all licensed financial institutions operating in the UAE, including finance companies, abide by UAE laws, regulations and standards adopted by the CBUAE to safeguard the transparency and integrity of financial companies and to enhance the efficiency of the UAE financial system,” it said.

The Central Bank has unveiled a number of initiatives to regulate the country’s financial sector in recent months. These include an enhanced regulatory framework to supervise banks’ exposure to the property sector and the issuance of guidelines to help licensed exchange houses combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

Last year, the regulator also instructed all hawala providers — informal fund transfer agents operating outside the banking system — to register with it in an effort to strengthen oversight of money transfers.

The Central Bank is also fining exchange houses for failing to achieve the appropriate levels of compliance with anti-money laundering regulations. In October, it fined six exchange houses operating in the country about Dh17.31 million ($4.7m) for non-compliance.

The banking regulator also imposed a penalty of Dh352,000 in December against another exchange house for failing to adhere to the AML guidelines.