Real estate agents, brokers, and law firms licensed in the UAE are obliged to report transactions involving the purchase or sale of freehold property where payment towards the property has been settled using cash equal to or exceeding AED 55,000 or virtual assets. Such reporting is to be made to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) by filing a real estate activity report (REAR). To comply with the requirements, real estate agents/brokers and law firms should develop appropriate anti-money laundering (AML) policies and procedures for identifying the specified transactions and submitting the REAR with accurate details on the goAML portal.

This Practice Note elaborates and serves as a guide to real estate agents and brokers and law firms on how to identify and report a designated transaction to the FIU.

• AML: Anti-money laundering.

• Authorised person: Authorised firm or an authorised market institution.

• Authorised firm: An authorised person who holds a licence to carry on one or more financial services in or from the DIFC and is not an authorised market institution.

• Authorised market institution: An authorised person operating an exchange, a clearing house or an alternative trading system.

• Beneficial owner: A beneficial owner includes the following: