Use case
Sanctions screening for DNFBPs in the UAE
Under UAE AML rules, designated non-financial businesses and professions must screen customers and beneficial owners against the UAE Local Terrorist List and the UN Consolidated List, before and during a relationship. AdverseMe parses the UAE list from the EOCN file daily, snapshots 13 official feeds twice a day, and gives you a PDF to file.
- UAE list
- Parsed from source daily
- UN and OFAC
- 13 feeds, twice a day
- Arabic names
- Transliteration matched
- Report
- Branded PDF, free
Who this applies to
The DNFBP regime covers businesses that handle value or ownership without being banks.
Real estate brokers and agents
Buyers, sellers, landlords and tenants in transactions that fall under the DNFBP regime.
Dealers in precious metals and stones
Cash and high-value customers, and the companies behind them.
Auditors and accountants
Clients accepted for audit, bookkeeping and advisory engagements.
Corporate service providers
Company formation, registered office and nominee services, where ownership is the whole question.
The obligation, in plain language
The framework is Federal Decree-Law 20 of 2018 and Cabinet Decision 74 of 2020 on targeted financial sanctions, with guidance from the supervisors. This is a summary, not legal advice.
- 1
Screen against the UAE Local Terrorist List and UN lists
Targeted financial sanctions apply to every DNFBP. The customer, and each beneficial owner, must be checked against the local list issued by the Executive Office for Control and Non-Proliferation and the UN Security Council consolidated list.
- 2
Identify the beneficial owner
For a company customer the obligation reaches through to the natural persons who own or control it, which means tracing the ownership chain, not just the named contact.
- 3
Keep the record
Regulators expect a record of who was screened, when, against which lists, and what was found. A screenshot of a search box is not that record.
- 4
Re-screen when lists change
Designations are added without notice. A customer cleared last month can be listed today, so screening is ongoing, not one-off.
How AdverseMe fits
One run covers the list, the owners and the record
UAE Local Terrorist List, parsed daily
AdverseMe reads the Executive Office for Control and Non-Proliferation (EOCN) file every day and matches Arabic and transliterated spellings, so a name matches however it was written on the passport or the trade licence.
UAE coverage →UN, OFAC and the other feeds in the same run
13 official sanctions feeds are snapshotted twice a day, and 5 GCC and MENA national lists are parsed daily. One screening checks all of them, plus 117 sources in total.
GCC coverage →Beneficial owners, traced
The ownership graph follows a company customer to depth 6, computes the OFAC 50 percent rule across the chain, and marks inferred links dashed so you know what is registry fact and what is not.
Ownership graph →A record you can file
Every screening produces a branded PDF with each finding, each of the 4 judges' reasoning and the Engine Trace of every source searched. Downloads are free, and every action sits in the audit log.
Reports →Ongoing screening without ongoing cost
Put customers on a daily, weekly, monthly monitor. When a list version changes, only the difference is re-checked, free. A confirmed hit escalates and re-screens for one credit.
Monitoring →Whole client books at once
Upload a CSV of existing customers, watch the batch screen with live progress, and escalate any hit to a case for review.
Batch screening →Plans start at $49 a month for 50 screenings. See pricing, or how AdverseMe compares with enterprise platforms.
Frequently asked questions
Which lists must a UAE DNFBP screen against?
Under UAE AML rules, DNFBPs apply targeted financial sanctions, which means screening customers and beneficial owners against the UAE Local Terrorist List issued by the Executive Office for Control and Non-Proliferation and the UN Security Council consolidated list. Many firms also screen OFAC, EU and UK lists because of correspondent and counterparty exposure. AdverseMe covers all of these in one run.
Does AdverseMe handle Arabic names?
Yes. The UAE list and the other GCC and MENA lists are parsed with Arabic transliteration, so a name is matched across common Latin spellings as well as the Arabic original.
Can I screen my existing customer base, not just new ones?
Yes. Upload a CSV and every row is screened with live progress. Results can be downloaded, and any flagged customer can be escalated to a case and put on a monitor.
What do I show the regulator?
The PDF report for each screening lists the sources searched, the findings, each judge's reasoning and any dropped wrong-entity matches. The audit log records who ran what and when, and results can be anchored with OpenTimestamps.
Screen the next customer against the UAE list today.
Plans start at $49 a month for 50 screenings. Every plan includes the AI council, the ownership graph, Engine Trace and PDF reports.