(Kitco News) – The government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has suspended the operations of 32 gold refineries – representing 5% of the total market – in a crackdown on money laundering and terrorist financing activities in the precious metals sector, according to an announcement from the Economy Ministry.
“The Ministry of Economy has affirmed its continued efforts to implement the legislative and regulatory system to combat money laundering in the country in accordance with the best international practices […] to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism in the country,” the Ministry said in the press release.
“In this context, the Ministry indicated that it had carried out a series of field inspection tours on activities related to the trade and manufacture of precious metals and gemstones, to ensure the highest levels of compliance with anti-money laundering legislation in the gold sector in the country,” they said. “These inspections resulted in the temporary suspension of activity of 32 gold refineries in the local market, representing 5% of the gold sector in the country, for a period of 3 months, starting from July 24 until October 24, 2024.”
The Ministry said the 32 refineries committed 256 violations – an average of 8 violations for each refinery – “the most prominent of which were not taking the necessary measures and procedures to identify risks, not notifying the Financial Information Unit of a suspicious transaction when necessary, and not examining customer and transaction databases against names included in the terrorism lists.”
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