Anti-Money Laundering Training for the Middle East

A level set on why anti-money laundering (AML) matters and how everyday employees can find themselves closer to it than they expect, with real-world examples.

Explains the core concepts behind anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT), including the typical stages of laundering and why both controls work together.

Breaks down what a healthy Know Your Customer (KYC) program includes, why it matters, and how it underpins the rest of an institution’s AML controls.

Covers customer identification and due diligence in practice, defining concepts like beneficial owner, customer due diligence (CDD), and enhanced due diligence (EDD) for higher-risk relationships.

Outlines how AML rules across the Middle East are shaped by Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards and how those standards translate into local obligations for financial institutions.

Describes Bahrain’s anti-money laundering Decree Law, which criminalizes laundering the proceeds of crime and sets out the prevention and reporting duties overseen by the Central Bank of Bahrain.

Describes Qatar’s Law No. 20 of 2019 on combating money laundering and terrorism financing, which requires financial institutions and DNFBPs to apply risk-based controls and report suspicious transactions to the Financial Information Unit.

Describes the UAE’s federal AML/CFT framework (Federal Decree-Law No. 20 of 2018), which criminalizes money laundering, terrorist financing, and the financing of illegal organisations (including proliferation financing), and requires firms to apply due diligence and report suspicious activity to the Financial Intelligence Unit.

Explains how sanctions and watchlists fit into AML controls, why screening customers and transactions matters, and what to do when a potential match comes up.

Covers how institutions monitor customer activity for red flags and when and how to escalate and file suspicious transaction reports to the relevant authority.