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The Ministry of Economy has published a circular to all real estate brokers and agents licensed in theUnited Arab Emirates with regards to Real Estate Activity Report.

Following Article (44) Clause (3) of ‘Cabinet Decision No. (10) Of 2019 Concerning the implementing regulation of decree-law No. (20) of 2018 on Anti-Money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism and illegal organizations’ and its amendments, which states the following:

“Putting in place the Crime-Combating regulations, instructions and forms for those subject to its supervision, when necessary”.

The Ministry of Economy instructs all real estate brokers and agents to undertake the following procedures effective 01 July 2022:

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• The purchase and sale of transactions of Freehold real estate, according to the description and determination of the law of each emirate, in carrying out any single physical cash transaction or several transactions equal or exceeding AED 55,000 for the entire, or a portion, of the property value.

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• The purchase and sale of transactions of Freehold real estate where the method of payment is a virtual asset for a portion, or the entire property value.

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• The purchase and sale of transactions of Freehold real estate where the funds used to carry out the transaction are converted from a virtual asset for a portion or the entire property value

In all the above cases, all real estate brokers and agents should follow the following:

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• Obtain and record identification documents (Emirates ID, Passport).

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• Obtain and record receipts, invoices, contracts and Purchase & Sale Agreement.

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• *Submit a ‘Real Estate Transaction Report’ (“REAR”) via the Financial Intelligence Unit’s (“FIU”) goAML platform.

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• If the buyer or seller are legal person(s)/ natural person(s), identification documents must include the following:

Legal Person	Natural Person
Trade License Articles of Association Register of Beneficial Owners Emirates ID or passport copy for all Beneficial owners; and Emirates ID or passport copy for all shareholders/partners.	Valid Emirates ID or Passport copy

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• All real estate brokers and agents must keep records of all documents and information related to the above transactions for minimum period of (5) years.

*Note

The submissions of REARs do not exempt you from your existing obligations to submit the following types of reports via goAML:

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• Suspicious Transaction Report (STR);

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• Suspicious Activity Report (SAR);

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• Funds Freeze Report (FFR);

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• Partial Name Match Report (PNMR);

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• High Risk Country Report (HRC); and

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• High Risk Country Activity Report (HRCA).

In order to see the circular issued, refer attached pdf file
Prepared by: Waleed Ahmed, Senior Auditor, Premier Brains

This document is only for information purposes and should not be construed as an advice. It does notnecessarily cover each aspect of the topic with which it deals. You should not act upon the contents of this document without receiving formal advice on your particular circumstances.

If you would like to discuss any audit, accounts, VAT, AML and technical advice, please drop us an email at info@premier-brains.com or call us at + 971 4 3542959.