UAE Central Bank Fines Foreign Bank Branch AED 1.82 Million Over Delayed Letter

The Central Bank of the UAE has imposed a financial penalty of AED 1.82 million on a branch of a foreign bank operating in the country for failing to issue a customer liability letter within the mandated seven-day timeframe. Announced on 6 July, the sanction followed supervisory examinations by the regulator, which found that the delay breached its Market Conduct and Consumer Protection Regulations and Standards. A liability letter is a document customers typically need when transferring loans, closing accounts or restructuring their banking arrangements, so timely issuance matters for consumer access and transparency. The penalty was imposed under the country's new central bank law, which consolidated banking and insurance supervision and sharply increased the maximum fines available to the regulator. The central bank did not name the institution involved. The action follows a series of tougher enforcement moves, including a much larger penalty in June against another foreign bank branch for repeated anti-money-laundering failures, and signals that supervisors are increasingly treating administrative and conduct lapses, not just serious compliance breaches, as matters warranting significant financial penalties.