The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has officially been removed from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list, a significant milestone reflecting progress in its anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CFT) reforms.
KYC Portal, an AML, compliance and due diligence platform, recently delved into what the next compliance steps are following this change.
This development bolsters global confidence in the UAE’s regulatory frameworks, particularly in key financial hubs like Abu Dhabi, Dubai, DIFC, and ADGM. However, for businesses operating in the region, this is just the beginning of a more demanding compliance journey.
Delisting from the grey list does not signal an end to regulatory pressure, KYC Portal explained. Instead, the spotlight on the region has intensified. International regulators and financial partners will be scrutinising how firms maintain and strengthen their AML/CFT measures in a post-grey list environment. There is an expectation that companies will sustain momentum, not retreat into complacency.
Increased expectations also bring heightened risk. Compliance failures now carry even greater reputational damage. A lapse in due diligence or governance can undermine the credibility the UAE has worked hard to earn. For regulated businesses, the priority must be to ensure AML policies and governance structures are deeply embedded and demonstrably effective.
KYC Portal, a compliance lifecycle management (CLM) solution, is helping UAE-based firms rise to this challenge. The platform supports financial institutions, funds, corporate service providers and consultancies by enabling policy-driven compliance that is configurable to the UAE’s multi-jurisdictional requirements.
With KYC Portal CLM, firms can automate and centralise onboarding and ongoing due diligence for clients, investors, suppliers, and employees. The platform provides real-time dashboards, risk scoring, audit trails, and evidence logs to track risk and prove compliance. Its no-code configurability allows businesses to quickly adapt to regulatory changes or internal risk factors, while flexible deployment options—either on-premise or regional cloud hosting—ensure data sovereignty.
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