AML/CFT Platform Software for Operators across the UAE

Who this is for: UAE banks (tier-1 augmentation or tier-2 full-scope), payment service providers and SVF licensees, exchange houses and remittance firms, VARA-licensed VASPs, DIFC and ADGM regulated firms (DFSA/FSRA requirements run in parallel), and fintechs building compliance-native propositions. Applicable across multiple entity types rather than bank-exclusive.

Six connected capability areas: (1) UAE-tuned transaction monitoring across typologies. (2) Multi-list sanctions screening across OFAC, UN, EU, UK, UAE, and country-specific lists. (3) PEP screening across domestic and foreign PEPs. (4) Beneficial ownership workflow with group propagation. (5) goAML STR/SAR filing workflow. (6) FATF-aligned evidence capture for supervisory engagement and mutual evaluation.

NICE Actimize, Quantexa, ComplyAdvantage, Refinitiv World-Check, and Fircosoft are mature global AML/CFT platforms with significant UAE and regional deployment. NICE Actimize handles transaction monitoring at scale at multiple UAE tier-1 banks. Quantexa provides entity resolution and investigation. ComplyAdvantage offers screening across sanctions and adverse media.

Custom AML/CFT platform software is designed to sit alongside these platforms, closing UAE-specific gaps - transaction monitoring scenarios tuned to UAE typologies (trade-based ML, remittance corridors, real estate, dual-use goods, gold and precious stones), goAML structured integration for STR and SAR filing, beneficial ownership workflow aligned to UAE Economic Substance Regulations, and post-FATF-exit evidence capture cadence. The AML platform retains its detection authority; the custom layer handles UAE-reality design.

Transaction monitoring scenarios reflect UAE-specific typologies. Trade-based money laundering scenarios account for the UAE's regional trade hub role - invoice manipulation, phantom shipments, over/under-invoicing, multi-party trade flows. Remittance corridor scenarios account for UAE's position as a major remittance sender to India, Philippines, Pakistan, Egypt, Bangladesh, and other corridors.

Real estate layering scenarios reflect Dubai and Abu Dhabi property market patterns. Dual-use goods (items with civilian and military applications) and gold and precious stones (UAE is a major hub) typologies are tuned. False-positive reduction via contextual scoring (customer segment, corridor, product, relationship tenure) reduces analyst workload. Machine learning augmentation where applicable without sacrificing explainability for regulatory defensibility.

Sanctions lists ingested continuously - OFAC SDN (US), OFAC SSI, UN Security Council Consolidated List, EU Consolidated List, UK OFSI Consolidated List, UAE Executive Office for Control of Weapons of Mass Destruction, and targeted country-specific lists (Qatar during the 2017-2021 blockade, as one historical reference; updated per current geopolitics).

Screening runs at customer onboarding, transaction-time for cross-border or high-risk transactions, and periodic refresh (typically daily or weekly). Fuzzy matching handles name variation, transliteration (particularly important for Arabic-script names), and nicknames. PEP screening covers domestic PEPs, foreign PEPs, and heads of international organisations. Audit trail per screening event continuous.

Beneficial ownership rules capture direct ownership (typically 25%+ as the standard threshold), control through voting rights, control via shareholder agreements or other arrangements, and senior managing officials where ownership is dispersed below the threshold. Each is captured with evidence - share registers, voting agreements, memoranda of association, board minutes.

Cross-entity propagation handles groups where ownership flows through multiple layers. UAE Economic Substance Regulations compliance is captured for relevant activities. Beneficial ownership refresh is triggered by material events (ownership change, senior management change, new shareholding layer) rather than on a fixed schedule. Evidence captured per refresh for audit continuity.

goAML is the UAE federal reporting platform operated by the UAE Financial Intelligence Unit for Suspicious Transaction Reports and Suspicious Activity Reports. Integration produces STR/SAR structured per goAML XML schema from case management output.

Case management captures investigative workflow - initial alert, analyst investigation, evidence collection, quality review, MLRO approval, goAML submission. Response-time tracking measures against CBUAE and FIU expectations (typically defined SLAs). Feedback from FIU on STR quality and outcome is ingested back into monitoring model tuning. The end-to-end STR lifecycle operates as workflow rather than assembled per filing.

Here's where custom AML/CFT platform software typically sits in a wider stack.

Core AML platforms - we sit alongside NICE Actimize, Quantexa, ComplyAdvantage, Refinitiv World-Check, Fircosoft, Featurespace, and Lexis Bridger for transaction monitoring, entity resolution, and sanctions screening authority.

Blockchain analytics (for VASPs and crypto-adjacent) - we integrate with Chainalysis KYT, Elliptic, TRM Labs, and Merkle Science for on-chain analysis and counterparty risk scoring.

Identity and credit - we connect with UAE PASS, Emirates ID, Sumsub, Onfido, Jumio for identity verification; Al Etihad Credit Bureau for credit context; Refinitiv and Dow Jones for adverse media and PEP data.

Integration approach is scoped during discovery. We don't ask you to rip and replace anything that works.

Discovery runs five to seven weeks. Working with your AML, compliance, risk, technology, and MLRO teams, we map current transaction monitoring, sanctions and PEP screening, beneficial ownership workflow, and goAML filing posture. Output is a detailed report covering current-state map, platform architecture, integration scope with existing AML platforms, phased implementation plan, and fixed-price build proposal.

Build for a core AML/CFT platform layer runs twelve to sixteen weeks from discovery completion. Full UAE-tuned monitoring, multi-list screening, beneficial ownership, and goAML integration rollout phases in over nine to eighteen months depending on entity type and regulatory scope.

Pricing varies by entity type (bank vs VASP vs PSP), transaction volume, and multi-regulator scope. A bracket isn't published; discovery produces a fixed-price proposal with no obligation to proceed.