51 of 2023IntroductionThe United Arab Emirates (UAE), including its commercial centres in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, has delivered significant and sustained economic growth over the past several decades. This influx of Russian money was a factor in the European Commission (EC) adding the UAE to its blacklist for money laundering in late 2022. The task force has worked to create a corporate registry of UAE companies, making the list available to the FATF and the international community. One difference between the GDPR and the UAE Data Protection Law is that the latter does not include a ‘legitimate interest’ basis for processing personal data. Multinational companies operating in the UAE must continually assess their compliance with UAE regulatory requirements, including specific money laundering risks.

Source: New York Times May 17, 2024 08:11 UTC