The Ministry's official page and step-by-step guide on mandatory goAML registration for the DNFBPs it supervises: real estate brokers, auditors and accountants, dealers in precious metals and stones, and trust or company service providers. It covers SACM and Google Authenticator enrolment, the documents required and the penalties for non-registration. The page still cites the 2018 law and 2019 regulation.
This record covers two linked Ministry of Economy and Tourism publications: the web page on the goAML suspicious transaction reporting system, which states that registration is mandatory for DNFBPs, and the goAML System Registration Guide dated 29 October 2024, which walks through the registration. Both are current. goAML is the UNODC-developed platform through which the UAE Financial Intelligence Unit receives, analyses and distributes suspicious transaction reports; without a goAML account a DNFBP cannot file a suspicious transaction or activity report, a funds-freeze report or the other returns the FIU and the Ministry require.
The Ministry page states that all designated non-financial businesses and professions were required to register on the goAML portal, citing Federal Decree-Law No. 20 of 2018 and Article 20(2) of Cabinet Decision No. 10 of 2019, and that failure to register may result in severe penalties invoked by the Ministry; it gives no amounts and no deadline beyond applying at the earliest. It lists the four DNFBP categories the Ministry supervises: real estate firms, auditing or accounting firms, dealers in precious metals or stones, and trust or company service providers such as company formation and registered address businesses. The page has not been updated for Federal Decree-Law No. 10 of 2025 and Cabinet Resolution No. 134 of 2025, which now supply the legal basis.
The Registration Guide (section 1) confirms that the Ministry is the supervisory body for DNFBPs licensed by every mainland registrar and commercial free zone, with only the financial free zones supervised by the FSRA and DFSA excluded. Section 2 lists the documents: the trade licence, an authorisation letter on letterhead or with the entity's stamp appointing the compliance officer or money laundering reporting officer (MLRO), and that person's Emirates ID and/or passport, scanned as a single PDF of no more than 5MB because the system accepts one attachment. Section 3 describes the two-step submission. Step 1 is registration in the Services Access Control Manager (SACM) at the FIU portal: registration type reporting entity, entity name as on the licence, supervisory body Ministry of Economy, licence number, the MLRO's details with a UAE mobile number, and the single attachment; after email verification the Ministry approves or rejects, an approved applicant receives OTPs valid for 24 hours to generate a secret key, and Google Authenticator must then be set up because its six-digit code is the password for every goAML login. Step 2 is entity registration on goAML itself using the SACM username, with entity details, address, the MLRO's details and the same documents uploaded; the system issues a REP reference and, on Ministry approval, an organisation ID. Step 3 explains two-level login. Queries go to goaml@uaefiu.gov.ae or aml@economy.ae.
Every designated non-financial business or profession supervised by the Ministry of Economy and Tourism: real estate brokers and agents, auditors and accountants, dealers in precious metals and stones, and trust or company service providers, whether licensed on the mainland or in a commercial free zone. Firms in the DIFC and ADGM register with the DFSA or FSRA instead.
| Section: Registration of Designated Non-Financial Companies on goAML Portal is Mandatory | States that all DNFBPs were required to register on the goAML portal under Federal Decree-Law No. 20 of 2018 and Article 20(2) of Cabinet Decision No. 10 of 2019, and that failure to register may result in severe penalties invoked by the Ministry. |
| Section: Does Your Company Fall Under the DNFBP? | Lists the four supervised categories: real estate firms, auditing or accounting firms, dealers of precious metals or stones, and trust or company service providers including company formation and registered business address services. |
| Section 1: Regulated Entities (Guide) | goAML registration with the Ministry applies to DNFBPs as defined in Article 3 of Cabinet Decision No. 10 of 2019; the Ministry supervises licences issued by all mainland registrars and commercial free zones, excluding the financial free zones under the FSRA and DFSA. |
| Section 2: Documents required (Guide) | Trade licence, an authorisation letter on letterhead or with the entity's stamp appointing the compliance officer or MLRO, and that person's Emirates ID and/or passport, scanned as a single PDF not exceeding 5MB. |
| Section 3, Step 1: SACM and Google Authenticator Registration (Guide) | Register as a reporting entity in the Services Access Control Manager with the entity name as on the licence, supervisory body Ministry of Economy, licence number and the MLRO's details including a UAE mobile number; verify the email, await Ministry approval, generate the secret key with OTPs valid 24 hours and set up Google Authenticator. |
| Section 3, Step 2: Entity Registration on goAML (Guide) | Log in with the SACM username and Authenticator code, select Register New Organisation, complete the entity, address and MLRO details, upload the same documents and submit; the system issues a REP reference and on approval the entity receives its organisation ID. |
| Section 3, Step 3: Login and Usage (Guide) | Login is two-level: the SACM username with the Google Authenticator code, then the username and password created at registration; report-type guides are on the FIU website and queries go to goaml@uaefiu.gov.ae or aml@economy.ae. |
The Ministry page states only that failure to register on goAML may result in severe penalties invoked by the Ministry, without amounts. The applicable schedule is now Cabinet Resolution No. 71 of 2024 on DNFBP administrative penalties, applied under Article 17 of Federal Decree-Law No. 10 of 2025, which allows fines of AED 10,000 to AED 5,000,000 per violation and licence measures.
We hold our own goAML registration as a corporate services provider, and registering clients is a standard onboarding step for every accounting, audit, real estate brokerage or company services business we license on the mainland or in RAKEZ, DMCC, IFZA, Meydan, Ajman or Dubai South. The process fails on small things: an appointment letter without a stamp, a non-UAE mobile number, a PDF over 5MB or an OTP left to expire, so we prepare the single bundle ourselves and sit with the MLRO through the SACM and Authenticator steps. We diarise the registration before the first client is taken on, because an unregistered DNFBP cannot file a suspicious transaction report at all and the Ministry treats non-registration as a standalone breach. When a client changes its MLRO we update the account at the same time as the internal appointment, and we remind clients that the page's references to the 2018 law and 2019 regulation have been overtaken by the 2025 law and regulation.
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