AML for Real Estate Agents in the UAE: What Brokers Must Do in 2026

This guide sets out AML for real estate agents in the UAE in plain terms: who is in scope, the six obligations, what to check on every deal, when you must file a REAR or an STR, the red flags to watch for, and what inspectors look at.

The rules come from Federal Decree-Law No. 10 of 2025 (in force since 14 October 2025), its Executive Regulations in Cabinet Resolution No. 134 of 2025 (in force since 14 December 2025), and MoET’s Supplemental Guidance for Real Estate Agents & Brokers (REAB, March 2026). Citing the UAE’s National Risk Assessment, that guidance rates the sector’s inherent money laundering risk as high. What changed from the 2018 law is in our guide to the new AML law.

Which real estate businesses AML applies to

You are a DNFBP (Designated Non-Financial Business or Profession) when you conclude purchase or sale transactions of real estate for a customer (CR 134/2025, art. 3(2)). There is no minimum deal size or number of deals.

Letting agents. Much of what you will read online about “AML requirements for letting agents” is written for the UK. In the UAE, leasing on its own does not make you a DNFBP. Check that your trade licence shows what you actually do: if it lists sale and purchase brokerage, the supervisor will treat you as in scope.

When the obligations start. As soon as a business relationship begins: when you sign a brokerage agreement, take instructions to act for a customer, or start arranging a purchase, sale or transfer.

Who supervises you. MoET supervises brokers on the mainland and in commercial free zones. Brokers in ADGM and DIFC have their own regulators and are outside the scope of this guide. The wider picture is in What is a DNFBP in the UAE.

The six AML obligations of a UAE real estate broker

goAML is the FIU’s reporting platform, and every report you file goes through it. The EOCN notification system sends you updates to the UAE and UN sanctions lists. You need both. Without goAML you cannot file a report a deal needs, and running a DNFBP business without the required registration is a criminal offence (FDL 10/2025, art. 32). The steps are in goAML registration in the UAE.

You need a written AML/CFT/CPF policy and procedures, approved by senior management. It covers how you onboard customers, verify identity, monitor deals, report, train staff and keep records. It rests on your enterprise-wide risk assessment (EWRA), your own analysis of the risk carried by your customers, payment methods, deal types and countries. Both have to reflect the 2025 law. A policy that still cites Decree-Law 20 of 2018 is out of date.

The Compliance Officer is appointed at management level, with independence in decision-making and the right competence and experience (CR 134/2025, art. 22). They run the AML programme day to day, act as your administrator on goAML and file your reports. In a small brokerage the role usually goes to the owner or the manager. Who can hold it, and when MoET accepts an external Compliance Officer, is in our guide to the AML Compliance Officer.

Before the deal you carry out customer due diligence (CDD): identity, beneficial owners, the purpose of the deal and the source of funds. You also screen against sanctions lists, check for PEPs, rate the customer’s risk and apply enhanced due diligence (EDD) when the risk is high. The sections below go through each step.

File the right report on goAML: a REAR for cash and crypto deals, an STR or SAR for anything suspicious, an HRC / HRCA for high-risk countries. These go to the FIU. A CNMR (formerly FFR) or PNMR for a sanctions match also goes through goAML, to the EOCN and your supervisor.

Keep customer IDs, beneficial ownership information, source of funds and source of wealth evidence, screening results, risk ratings, correspondence, deal documents and your internal notes for at least five years from the completion of the transaction or the end of the business relationship (CR 134/2025, art. 25). MoET must be able to reconstruct each deal from your file and see why you decided what you did.

All six depend on staff training: everyone who deals with customers should know the red flags and how to escalate to the Compliance Officer.

The AML process for every deal

What MoET expects, from first contact to closing:

1. Identify the customer: individual or company, buyer or seller, and anyone acting for them.
2. Collect documents and verify them (see the KYC list below).
3. Identify the beneficial owners, the natural persons who own or control a company customer.
4. Screen the customer, beneficial owners and representatives against the UAE Local Terrorist List and the UN Consolidated List, and check for PEPs and adverse media. How screening and the EOCN notifications work is in our guide to sanctions screening and the EOCN.
5. Understand the deal: why this property, why now, and does it fit the customer’s profile?
6. Establish the source of funds and, where the risk is higher, the source of wealth.
7. Rate the risk (low, medium or high) and apply EDD if it is high.
8. Check the payment method: cash of AED 55,000 or more, or crypto, means a REAR.
9. Watch for red flags until closing and escalate them to the Compliance Officer.
10. File any report the deal needs and keep the file for five years.

KYC for real estate deals in Dubai and the UAE

The minimum identification documents under MoET Circular 05/2022:

Beyond identity, MoET’s guidance expects you to understand why the customer is buying or selling and whether the deal fits their profile and financial capacity. Most brokers keep one KYC form for individuals and another for companies to collect all of this in one go. A bank’s KYC on the same customer is a separate process with its own file; how banks run it is in our guide to business bank account KYC.

Enhanced due diligence is expected for higher-risk customers, including:

• foreign clients with no clear link to the UAE;
• politically exposed persons;
• complex or multi-layered ownership structures;
• large cash payments;
• cross-border funding.

The developer’s KYC does not cover you

On off-plan deals, many brokers assume the developer’s checks, or the buyer’s bank’s, are enough. The law lets you rely on a third party’s due diligence only under strict conditions, one of which is that the third party is itself regulated and supervised for AML. Even then you stay responsible for the result. The developer checks its own customer for its own purposes, while you still have to identify your customer, understand the deal, screen the parties and decide whether to report. MoET inspects your file.

Source of funds when buying property

For every deal, MoET expects you to check that the money is legitimate and consistent with what you know about the customer. That breaks down into two questions:

• Source of funds: where the money for this deal comes from, for example a transfer from the buyer’s salary account, the proceeds of selling another property, or a mortgage.
• Source of wealth: how the customer built their overall wealth, for example business ownership, employment or an inheritance. Ask about it for high-value deals, complex ownership and cross-border funding.

Typical evidence is bank statements, the sale agreement for a previous property, a mortgage offer or company accounts. If the customer can’t or won’t explain the money, treat it as a red flag.

Cash and crypto: when a REAR is required

The Real Estate Activity Report (REAR) was introduced by MoET Circular 05/2022 and still applies under the new law. File a REAR on goAML for a freehold property purchase or sale when:

• the customer pays AED 55,000 or more in physical cash, in one payment or several, for all or part of the price;
• any part of the price is paid in virtual assets (crypto); or
• the funds were converted from virtual assets into dirhams or another currency.

For a REAR, keep the customer’s ID (for a company, the full set listed above) together with receipts, invoices, contracts and the sale and purchase agreement.

Three points brokers often get wrong:

• An international bank transfer from an individual does not trigger a REAR (FIU Reports FAQ).
• If a cash or crypto deal is also suspicious, file an STR as well. The REAR does not cover the suspicion.
• You don’t wait for the FIU after a REAR. The FIU Reports FAQ confirms that brokers need no response before going ahead, because a REAR reports a threshold; it does not ask for permission.

Suspicious deals: STR and SAR

File a Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) when you suspect, or have reasonable grounds to suspect, that a deal is linked to a crime. Use a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) for suspicious activity or for a deal that never went ahead. There is no minimum amount, and you must report without delay (FDL 10/2025, art. 18).

Two criminal offences to know:

• Failing to file an STR, intentionally or through gross negligence: imprisonment and/or a fine of AED 100,000 to AED 1,000,000 (art. 28).
• Tipping off, meaning telling the customer or anyone else that you have reported or are about to: imprisonment and/or a fine of at least AED 50,000 (art. 29).

Other reports: HRC, CNMR and PNMR

Not sure about a deal? Send it to us: we’ll check it and prepare the report →

Red flags in real estate deals

MoET’s guidance lists dozens. These are the ones brokers meet most often. One red flag proves nothing on its own, but it is a reason for EDD and a conversation with your Compliance Officer.

The customer

• The real owner is hidden behind companies, nominees or intermediaries with no clear reason.
• The customer refuses or delays giving documents, or asks to postpone the beneficial ownership check until late in the deal.
• The beneficial owner keeps changing during the deal.
• The customer is a PEP, is linked to one, or is linked to criminal proceedings.
• A foreign buyer has no visible link to the UAE or reason for the purchase.

The money

• The customer insists on paying a large amount in cash with no clear source.
• Payments come from third parties with no documented relationship to the buyer.
• Payments are split into small amounts or routed through several accounts or countries.
• The price is paid in crypto or funds from crypto, especially through unregulated platforms.
• Money arrives from high-risk or offshore jurisdictions.

The behaviour and the deal

• The customer shows no interest in the property itself or in negotiating the price.
• The price is well above or below the market.
• The same property is resold quickly, or bought and cancelled repeatedly.
• The customer is in a hurry without a reason, or changes the buyer, ownership or payment at the last minute.
• The customer avoids meeting, or everything goes through a lawyer or representative without a valid reason.
• You are asked to backdate documents or skip your checks.

Interactive check

Deal check: which AML report does this deal need?

Six quick questions about one sale or purchase. Your answers are not stored or sent anywhere.

General information, not legal advice. The tool does not replace the decision of your Compliance Officer.

Inspections and fines for brokers

MoET inspects brokers regularly. In the first half of 2025 alone it recorded 495 violations by real estate brokers and AED 18.5 million in fines. Under the new law:

• Administrative fines run from AED 10,000 to AED 5,000,000 per violation, can be increased if the same violation recurs within a year of the previous fine, and can be published (FDL 10/2025, art. 17). MoET can also issue warnings, restrict or suspend your activity, or have your licence withdrawn.
• Criminal penalties apply for failing to file an STR (art. 28), tipping off (art. 29) and operating without the required registration (art. 32: imprisonment and/or AED 200,000 to AED 10,000,000).

Inspectors look for gaps in the basics: inconsistent CDD, weak checks on PEPs and adverse media, little scrutiny of foreign clients and complex structures, and incomplete records. The fine for each type of violation is in our guide to AML fines in the UAE.

What you do, and what we can do for you

Some of this only you can do: appoint your Compliance Officer, meet your customers and make the final call on whether a deal is suspicious. The rest is paperwork and process, and our AML subscription for brokers covers it:

• goAML and EOCN registration, if you aren’t registered yet;
• a ready AML documentation set for real estate brokerage: policy and procedures manual, Compliance Officer appointment letter, risk assessment template and KYC forms;
• KYC and sanctions screening of your customers, with a risk rating and an EDD recommendation;
• ongoing monitoring and re-screening when sanctions lists change;
• FIU reports prepared in goAML, ready for your Compliance Officer to submit;
• one personal manager for the whole year.

How the subscription compares with doing the work in-house or hiring a specialist: how much AML compliance costs.

See what’s included and the price →

This guide is general information, not legal advice.

What this means for you

AML for a UAE broker comes down to a file MoET can read. Three things to get right first: