The UAE Ministry of Economy has recently revoked licenses issued to 32 gold refineries in the country for failure to observe AML legislation.
In a statement issued by the Ministry of Mines, it was stated that licenses of these refineries which are 5 percent of the gold sector in the country were suspended from July 24, 2024, to October 24, 2024.
The Ministry said the move followed field visits on activities regarding trade and manufacturing of the precious metals and gemstones intended for verifying high Standards in AML compliance in gold sector.
This is perhaps due to the clamp down on financial fraudsters as inspections revealed that 256 violations were committed by these refineries, eight to each of them. The most frequent of them were: failure to introduce such measures and procedures to assess risks, failure to report to the Financial Information Unit a suspicious transaction report, where necessary, and failure to search customer and transactions databases by names in the terrorism lists.
Underlining the UAE’s strong support for the multifaceted policy on due diligence regulation for the responsible supply of gold, Abdullah Ahmed Al Saleh, the undersecretary of the UAE’s Ministry of Economy stated, “The UAE has maintained its solid commitment in embarking on the course to build up the UAE’s integrated legal and supervisory framework to fight against money laundering and implementing the highest level of compliance with the Avalon policy on due diligence regulations for the responsible gold supply chain, by keeping pace with the best global practices in this regard,” said Abdullah Ahmed Al Saleh, undersecretary of the UAE’s Ministry of Economy.”
Due to the sincere efforts towards eradicating the menace of money laundering and financing of terrorism in the precious stone and in gold sectors, the Due Diligence Regulations Policy for the Responsible Sourcing Process was announced in the month of September 2022 by the Ministry of Economy. This kicked off in January 2023.
“The Ministry is making incessant efforts to enhance its administrative role over the designated non-financial business sectors and professions in the country, characterized by the activities of trading and manufacturing precious metals and gemstones, the activities of real estate brokers, establishments operating in the corporate service provider sector, and the doings of auditors, by escalating inspection campaigns to guarantee the highest levels of acquiescence with the anti-money laundering legislation in force in the country,” said Al Saleh.
