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UAE Central Bank Fines 11 Banks

The UAE has an agenda to strengthen the efforts on anti-money laundering. WAM
The UAE has an agenda to strengthen the efforts on anti-money laundering. WAM
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UAE Central Bank Fines 11 Banks

The UAE has an agenda to strengthen the efforts on anti-money laundering. WAM
The UAE has an agenda to strengthen the efforts on anti-money laundering. WAM

The United Arab Emirates’ central bank (CBUAE) imposed financial sanctions on 11 banks operating in the country for their failure to reach appropriate levels of compliance on anti-money laundering and sanctions.

The regulator imposed AED45.7 million (USD12.4 million) in penalties.

“All banks operating in the UAE have been allowed ample time by the CBUAE to remedy any shortcomings and were instructed in the middle of 2019 to ensure compliance by the end of that year, informing them that further shortcomings would result in penalties under the Federal Decree-Law No. (20) of 2018 and its executive regulation,” the bank said on Sunday.

CBUAE said it will continue to work closely with all financial institutions in the UAE to achieve and maintain high levels of compliance and will continue to impose further administrative and/or financial sanctions, in cases of non-compliance.

The bank held the first Compliance Officers Forum to create a dialogue between the CBUAE and Chief Compliance Officers of all banks to discuss expectations from compliance function and banks’ risk management more generally.

The forum, chaired by Abdulhamid M. Saeed Alahmadi, governor of the UAE Central Bank, was attended by over 100 Chief Compliance Officers and other senior compliance professionals from the banking industry.

The event supports achieving the UAE’s agenda to strengthen the efforts on anti-money laundering and combatting the financing of terrorism.

Alahmadi opened the forum emphasizing the importance of compliance functions and their role in ensuring sound and comprehensive management of all risks faced by banks in the UAE.

The forum addressed several matters mainly highlighting that banks need to assess the scope and skills of their compliance function and properly embed the compliance risk within the overall risk appetite framework.

"The UAE is strongly committed to applying FATF standards to ensure that its financial system is safe and sound. We urge financial institutions to retain their focus on combatting money laundering and financing of terrorism,” Alahmadi said.

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WTO Slashes 2025 Trade Growth Forecast

Chinese made cars, including Volvo and other brands, are seen at the port in Nanjing, in China's eastern Jiangsu province on April 16, 2025, as they wait to be loaded onto ships for export. (Photo by AFP)
Chinese made cars, including Volvo and other brands, are seen at the port in Nanjing, in China's eastern Jiangsu province on April 16, 2025, as they wait to be loaded onto ships for export. (Photo by AFP)
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20
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WTO Slashes 2025 Trade Growth Forecast

Chinese made cars, including Volvo and other brands, are seen at the port in Nanjing, in China's eastern Jiangsu province on April 16, 2025, as they wait to be loaded onto ships for export. (Photo by AFP)
Chinese made cars, including Volvo and other brands, are seen at the port in Nanjing, in China's eastern Jiangsu province on April 16, 2025, as they wait to be loaded onto ships for export. (Photo by AFP)

The World Trade Organization sharply cut its forecast for global merchandise trade from solid growth to a decline on Wednesday, saying further US tariffs and spillover effects could lead to the heaviest slump since the height of the COVID pandemic.
The WTO said it expected trade in goods to fall by 0.2% this year, down from its expectation in October of 3.0% expansion. It said its new estimate was based on measures in place at the start of this week, Reuters reported.
US President Donald Trump imposed extra duties on steel and car imports as well as more sweeping global tariffs before unexpectedly pausing higher duties on a dozen economies. His trade war with China has also intensified with tit-for-tat exchanges pushing levies on each other's imports beyond 100%.
The WTO said that, if Trump reintroduced the full rates of his broader tariffs that would reduce goods trade growth by 0.6 percentage points, with another 0.8 point cut due to spillover effects beyond US-linked trade.
Taken together, this would lead to a 1.5% decline, the steepest drop since 2020.
"The unprecedented nature of the recent trade policy shifts means that predictions should be interpreted with more caution than usual," said the WTO, which is also forecasting a modest recovery of 2.5% in 2026.
Earlier on Wednesday, the UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) agency said global economic growth could slow to 2.3% as trade tensions and uncertainty drive a recessionary trend.
The Geneva-based WTO said disruption of US-China trade was expected to increase Chinese merchandise exports across all regions outside North America by between 4% and 9%.
Other countries would have opportunities to fill the gap in the United States in sectors such as textiles, clothing and electrical equipment.
Services trade, though not subject to tariffs, would also take a hit, the WTO said, by weakening demand related to goods trade such as transport and logistics. Broader uncertainty could dampen spending on travel and investment-related services.
The WTO said it expected commercial services trade to grow by 4.0% in 2025 and 4.1% in 2026, well below baseline projections of 5.1% and 4.8%.
The expected downturn follows a strong 2024, when the volume of world merchandise trade grew by 2.9% and commercial services trade expanded by 6.8%.