Regulatory & Compliance Advisory
Helping businesses understand, manage and meet their evolving regulatory and compliance obligations in the UAE.
The UAE’s regulatory environment continues to evolve, placing greater responsibility on businesses to maintain effective governance, compliance and reporting frameworks. From Anti-Money Laundering (AML), beneficial ownership and regulatory reporting requirements to ESG and sustainability-related obligations, businesses increasingly need structured processes that are practical, documented and consistently applied.
Our Regulatory & Compliance Advisory team helps businesses assess their obligations, identify compliance gaps and implement appropriate policies, procedures, controls and reporting frameworks. We work alongside management, finance and compliance teams to support regulatory filings, strengthen internal governance and help businesses remain prepared for changing regulatory expectations.
- UAE Regulatory & Compliance Expertise
- AML, UBO & Regulatory Reporting Support
- Governance, ESG & Compliance Frameworks
Our Services
Anti-Money Laundering (AML) & CFT Compliance
Businesses operating in regulated sectors are required to maintain effective Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing frameworks that reflect the nature, size and risk profile of their activities. For Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions (DNFBPs) and other regulated entities, compliance extends beyond filing requirements to customer due diligence, risk assessment, transaction monitoring, record keeping and ongoing reporting obligations.
Our team helps businesses assess their existing AML/CFT framework, identify gaps and implement practical policies, procedures and controls aligned with applicable UAE requirements. We also support clients with ongoing compliance, regulatory reporting, staff training and remediation where improvements are required.
Our support includes:
- AML/CFT compliance gap assessments
- Enterprise-wide and customer risk assessments
- AML policies, procedures and internal controls
- Customer Due Diligence (CDD) and Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) frameworks
- Sanctions and screening procedures
- Transaction monitoring and suspicious activity escalation frameworks
- Regulatory reporting and filing support
- Staff training and compliance awareness
- Ongoing AML compliance reviews and remediation support
Ultimate Beneficial Owner (UBO) Compliance
UAE beneficial ownership regulations require applicable entities to identify and maintain accurate information on their ultimate beneficial owners, shareholders and/or partners. These records must remain current and changes may need to be notified to the relevant licensing authority within the prescribed timelines.
Our team assists businesses in identifying their beneficial ownership structure, preparing and maintaining the required registers and supporting submissions to the relevant authority. For more complex ownership arrangements, we also help trace ownership and control through multiple corporate layers and advise on the application of relevant exemptions and disclosure requirements.
Our support includes:
- Identification of Ultimate Beneficial Owners
- Preparation and maintenance of UBO registers
- Partners and Shareholders Register
- Review of multi-layered and corporate ownership structures
- Assistance with UBO declarations and authority filings
- Updating registers following ownership or management changes
- Ongoing compliance support
ESG & Sustainability Advisory
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) considerations are becoming increasingly important to regulators, investors, lenders, customers and other stakeholders. Businesses are expected not only to communicate their sustainability priorities, but also to support those disclosures with clear governance, reliable data and measurable performance indicators.
Our ESG & Sustainability Advisory services help businesses understand where they currently stand, identify the sustainability matters most relevant to their operations and stakeholders, and develop practical frameworks for measurement, governance and reporting. Whether you are beginning your ESG journey, responding to regulatory or stakeholder requirements, or preparing for external assurance, we can support the process from assessment through implementation and reporting.
Our support includes:
- ESG gap and maturity assessments
- Materiality Assessment
- ESG strategy and sustainability roadmaps
- ESG governance frameworks, policies and committee structures
- Identification and development of ESG KPIs and performance metrics
- ESG data collection, validation and reporting frameworks
- Alignment with recognised reporting frameworks such as GRI, ISSB and other applicable standards
- Climate and sustainability disclosure support
- ESG, regulatory and sustainability reporting
- Benchmarking against industry and peer practices
- Internal controls over ESG information and reporting processes
- Assurance readiness and pre-assurance gap assessments
- Support in responding to investor, lender and stakeholder ESG information requests
Digital Assets & Virtual Asset Regulatory Advisory
The UAE has developed a sophisticated regulatory environment for virtual assets and digital-asset businesses, with different licensing and compliance frameworks applying depending on the jurisdiction, activity and operating model. In Dubai, VARA regulates virtual asset activities, while ADGM’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) maintains its own regulatory framework for virtual asset activities within ADGM.
Our team assists businesses in understanding the regulatory perimeter applicable to their proposed activities, selecting an appropriate jurisdiction and corporate structure, and preparing for the licensing and compliance process. We support clients from the initial regulatory assessment through incorporation, application coordination and ongoing compliance requirements.
Our support includes:
- Regulatory and licensing feasibility assessments
- Identification of applicable virtual asset licence categories
- Jurisdiction and corporate structure advisory
- VARA licensing application support
- ADGM / FSRA regulatory coordination, where applicable
- AML/CFT and compliance framework development for virtual asset businesses
- Governance, compliance and risk-management documentation
- Policy and procedure development
- Business plan and regulatory application support
- Post-licensing compliance and regulatory reporting
- Banking and operational readiness support