AML Requirements for Lawyers, notaries and legal professionals in the UAE
Law firms, legal consultancy offices and notaries, whether or not they currently perform the transactions listed in Article 3(4).
Are lawyers, notaries and legal professionals designated in the UAE mainland?
It depends on what the firm does for its customers. The designation attaches to particular activities rather than to holding a licence, so two firms with the same licence can sit on opposite sides of the perimeter.
- Designating provision
- Cabinet Resolution No. (134) of 2025, Article 3(4)
- Supervisor
- Ministry of Justice
Holds the only exemption from the reporting duty in the DNFBP regime, for information obtained in litigation-adjacent work.
Because the test turns on the firm's own activity, the free scope check puts the question that decides it and states the answer with the provision behind it.
Reports filed with no suspicion required
No threshold-based report has been established for this sector in the UAE mainland. Reporting here is suspicion-driven: suspicious transaction and activity reports are filed when the firm has grounds to suspect, whatever the amount. That is not the same as saying nothing is owed, and it is why record keeping and the ability to recognise a suspicion matter more in this sector than any threshold.
What the regime requires here
Federal Decree-Law No. (10) of 2025 and Cabinet Resolution No. (134) of 2025, Article 3 governs AML in the UAE mainland. Every designated firm owes the same spine of obligations: a documented risk assessment covering money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing; customer due diligence with enhanced measures for higher risk and for high-risk countries; policies approved by senior management; a compliance officer at management level; an independent audit of the controls; immediate implementation of targeted financial sanctions; staff training; and records available to the authorities on request.
- Federal Decree-Law No. (10) of 2025 on AML/CFT/CPF, in force 14 October 2025
- Cabinet Resolution No. (134) of 2025, Executive Regulations, in force 14 December 2025 (DNFBPs: Article 3)
What Federal Decree-Law No. 10 of 2025 changed sets out the obligations and the penalties in full, with each article cited.
See where this firm actually stands
AML Compass assesses a lawyers, notaries and legal professional against the duties that apply in the UAE mainland, scores its risk and inspection readiness, and produces a report of the gaps citing the provision behind each one.
The same sector elsewhere in the UAE
The designation, the threshold and the supervisor are not the same across jurisdictions, so a firm operating in more than one needs both answers.
Other designated businesses in the UAE mainland
This page summarises published legislation and rulebooks for general information. It is not legal advice, and it does not replace the texts themselves or guidance from your supervisor.