CMA Circular No. 2/2015 of 2015 · UAE Federal
SCA circular to companies engaged in the securities and commodities business on freezing and unfreezing accounts of individuals designated as having links to terrorist organisations under United Nations resolutions.
Circular No. 2 of 2015, dated 16 December 2015 and issued in English and Arabic by the Securities and Commodities Authority (now the CMA) to licensed securities and commodities companies in the UAE, sets the same freezing and unfreezing rules that Circular No. 1 of 2015 gave the markets. It concerns persons on the UN Security Council lists of individuals and entities associated with al-Qaida and the Taliban, kept by the committees under Resolutions 1267 (1999), 1988 (2011) and 1989 (2011).
The six instructions: instantly freeze any cash, securities or commodities accounts of listed individuals, groups and organisations (links to the al-Qaida Sanctions List and the 1988 List are given); unfreeze accounts of persons delisted by the committees; do not freeze, block or use an account unless names and details match the list entirely and without doubt, and in case of doubt contact the Authority or the Central Bank's Anti-Money Laundering and Suspicious Cases Unit; keep an internal list of listed persons and update it daily; report freezing or unfreezing instantly to the Authority and that Unit; and treat the earlier SCA circular dated 9 October 2012 as cancelled. A reporting form for identical and similar names, with account numbers and balances, is attached; reports go to amltfc@sca.ae.
Status: listed as in force. Freezing is now governed by Cabinet Decision No. 74 of 2020, which the CMA's Notice No. 2 of 2021 directs licensees to follow.
Brokers and other companies licensed by the Securities and Commodities Authority (now the CMA) to carry on securities and commodities business in the UAE, for client accounts of UN-listed persons.
English official text in 3 passages. Open the full text or jump to a provision:
| Paragraph First | Instantly freeze any cash, securities or commodities accounts of individuals, groups and organisations on the UN al-Qaida and 1988 sanctions lists. |
| Paragraph Second | Unfreeze accounts of natural or legal persons delisted under the Security Council committees' resolutions. |
| Paragraph Third | Freeze only where names and details match entirely and without doubt; in case of doubt contact the Authority or the Central Bank's AML unit. |
| Paragraph Fourth | Keep an internal list of persons on the UN lists and update it daily. |
| Paragraph Fifth | Report every freezing or unfreezing action instantly to the Authority and the Central Bank's Anti-Money Laundering and Suspicious Cases Unit. |
| Annex (reporting form) | Reporting form listing identical and similar names, account holder, account number and available balance, signed by the authorised person. |
The circular sets no amounts; it states that non-compliance exposes the company to severe penalties and sanctions in the UAE and abroad.
We are not licensed by the CMA. For brokerage and investment clients, this circular is part of the background to their sanctions procedures. We now build those procedures on Cabinet Decision No. 74 of 2020 and the CMA's later notices, and we use this circular when reviewing historic freezes or older compliance manuals that still cite it.
No amendments, repeals or cross-references recorded for this instrument.
“Cites” and “Cited by” are built automatically from references in the full texts held in this library; they cover only instruments in the library.
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