🇦🇪UAE

غرامات الأنشطة المالية غير المرخصة - Unlicensed Financial Activity Penalties

2 verified sources

Definition

Federal Decree-Law No. (6) of 2025 (CB Law 2025) introduced significantly enhanced criminal penalties for unlicensed financial activities. Article 170 establishes imprisonment and/or fines between AED 50,000–AED 500 million for persons engaging in licensed financial activities (including FX hedging, currency exchange, money transfer, settlement services) without proper authorization from the UAECB. This represents a dramatic increase from penalties under the 2018 Law. The one-year compliance window (until 16 September 2026) creates immediate risk for entities not yet formalized.

Key Findings

  • Financial Impact: AED 50,000 to AED 500 million per violation (criminal fine); imprisonment possible. Estimated enforcement cost: AED 100,000–AED 5 million for legal remediation per incident.
  • Frequency: Single violation per unlicensed entity can trigger entire penalty range; enforcement actively expanded in 2025.
  • Root Cause: Informal or unregistered FX hedging/settlement arrangements; lack of UAECB license for money transfer or currency exchange services; delay in compliance formalization before 16 September 2026 deadline.

Why This Matters

This pain point represents a significant opportunity for B2B solutions targeting International Trade and Development.

Affected Stakeholders

Finance Directors, Trade Finance Officers, FX Settlement Managers, Compliance Officers, CFOs of multinational trading companies

Deep Analysis (Premium)

Financial Impact

Financial data and detailed analysis available with full access. Unlock to see exact figures, evidence sources, and actionable insights.

Unlock to reveal

Current Workarounds

Financial data and detailed analysis available with full access. Unlock to see exact figures, evidence sources, and actionable insights.

Unlock to reveal

Get Solutions for This Problem

Full report with actionable solutions

$99$39
  • Solutions for this specific pain
  • Solutions for all 15 industry pains
  • Where to find first clients
  • Pricing & launch costs
Get Solutions Report

Methodology & Sources

Data collected via OSINT from regulatory filings, industry audits, and verified case studies.

Evidence Sources:

Related Business Risks

مشاكل التوافق مع الانتقال التنظيمي - Regulatory Transition & Implementation Costs (CB Law 2025)

Estimated one-time compliance transformation cost: AED 1 million–AED 5 million per entity (system upgrades, policy rewrite, legal review, third-party audits, staff training). Ongoing operational disruption: estimated 2–5% revenue loss during transition period (12 months). Failure to comply by 16 Sept 2026: license revocation, 100% operational loss.

فجوات تسعير صرف العملات و فرص الربح المفقودة - FX Pricing Leakage & Lost Margin Opportunities

Estimated revenue leakage: 0.5–2% of total FX transaction volume. Example: AED 100 million annual FX volume → AED 500,000–AED 2 million annual leakage. Manual FX pricing: 10–20 hours/month per trade finance team member at AED 200–500/hour = AED 24,000–AED 120,000 annually.

فقدان القدرة بسبب الازدحام الجمركي

5-15% monthly throughput loss; AED 50,000+ in idle warehouse costs

غرامات مخاطر السيادة

AED 40,000+ per delayed project from higher risk premiums; 1-2% increased borrowing costs on AED 50M facilities

تجاوز تكاليف التقييم السيادي

AED 50-100/barrel oil volatility hedge premiums; 0.5-1% cost overrun on AED 20M+ trade contracts

أخطاء قرارات المخاطر السيادية

2-5% opportunity cost on AED 10M deals; AED 150bn-200bn national infra spend misallocation risks

Request Deep Analysis

🇦🇪 Be first to access this market's intelligence