CBUAE imposes sanctions on individual for breach

ABU DHABI: The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) has imposed sanctions on a nonauthorised individual related to an exchange house operating in the UAE, ater the person carried out a function without prior approval from the Central Bank.

In a statement, CBUAE said the individual violated the law on Anti-money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism and Financing of Illegal Organisations, and the Federal law on Central Bank & Organisation of Financial Institutions and Activities.

CBUAE imposed a financial sanction of Dhs600,000 on the individual and prohibited him from undertaking any future functions related to licensed financial institutions in the UAE.

The individual had no authorisation to undertake a function that required prior approval from the Central Bank as per article 137 of the Decretal Federal law No (14) of 2018, CBUAE added.

As the supervisory authority of exchange houses operating in the UAE, the CBUAE is actively overseeing that all exchange houses, their owners, and staff abide by the UAE laws, regulations and standards adopted by the CBUAE to safeguard the transparency and integrity of the exchange houses’ business.

Earlier, the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) jointly announced the exchange of a Memorandum of Understanding ( MOU) to enhance collaboration on fintech between the two authorities, with a view to strengthening co-operation between the two jurisdictions in promoting innovative financial services and regulatory development.

Under the MOU, the two authorities have agreed that the CBUAE will join the multiple central bank digital currency bridge ( M-CBDC Bridge) project collaboratively implemented by the HKMA, the Bank of Thailand, the Digital Currency Institute of the People’s Bank of China and the Bank for International Setlements Innovation Hub Centre in Hong Kong.

The MOU was signed by Abdulhamid M. Saeed Alahmadi, Governor of the CBUAE and Eddie Yue, Chief Executive of the HKMA.