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goAML registration and AML compliance
goAML is the reporting platform of the UAE Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). Registration is free, and businesses that must register and do not can have their licence suspended.
- Registration on goAML is free
- Two stages: SACM first, then goAML
- Records kept for five years
Must you register on goAML
What does your business do?
You are covered when you conclude transactions or settlements for customers buying or selling real estate. The definition has no monetary threshold.
- Threshold report
- Real Estate Activity Report (REAR)
- Trigger
- Cash of AED 55,000 or more, or any virtual asset element, on a freehold sale
- Usual supervisor
- Ministry of Economy and Tourism
This is a general guide based on Cabinet Resolution No. 134 of 2025; your supervisory body decides how the rules apply to your licence.
goAML and AML compliance, in brief.
goAML is the online platform the UAE Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) uses to receive suspicious transaction reports and threshold reports from businesses. It has been live since June 2019 and registration is free.
Financial institutions, virtual asset service providers and designated non-financial businesses and professions (DNFBPs) must register and run an anti-money laundering (AML) programme. My Eloah Business Hub helps you prepare the registration file and work through both stages.
- Platform
- goAML, run by the UAE Financial Intelligence Unit
- Law
- Federal Decree-Law No. 10 of 2025 and Cabinet Resolution No. 134 of 2025
- Cost
- Registration is free
- Stages
- SACM pre-registration, then goAML organisation registration
The businesses that must register.
Cabinet Resolution No. 134 of 2025 lists the designated non-financial businesses and professions. Each category has its own trigger.
| Business | When it is covered |
|---|---|
| Real estate brokers and agents | When concluding transactions or settlements for customers for the purchase or sale of real estate. No monetary threshold in the definition. |
| Dealers in valuable metals and precious stones | A single cash transaction, or linked transactions, of AED 55,000 or more. |
| Lawyers, notaries, other independent legal professionals and independent accountants | Only when preparing, conducting or executing customer transactions: buying or selling real estate, managing customer funds, managing bank, savings or securities accounts, organising contributions to companies, or establishing, operating, managing, buying or selling legal persons and commercial entities. |
| Company and trust service providers | Acting as formation agent; acting or arranging for someone to act as director, secretary or partner; providing a registered office, business, correspondence or administrative address; acting as trustee or nominee shareholder. |
| Commercial gaming operators | Single or linked transactions of AED 11,000 or more. Gaming chips alone are excluded. |
| Financial institutions and virtual asset service providers | Covered in their own right, alongside the categories above. |
| Any other business | Where the Supervisory Authority decides so with the National Committee. |
Most DNFBPs are supervised by the Ministry of Economy and Tourism. Lawyers and notaries are supervised by the Ministry of Justice. Your supervisory body approves your registration.
What you report, and when.
Reports are filed through goAML, either typed in as a web report or uploaded as an XML file.
| Report | When it is filed |
|---|---|
| Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) | Suspicion of money laundering, fraud or terrorist financing around an executed transaction. Filed without delay. |
| Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) | Suspicion around an activity or an attempted transaction that was not executed. |
| Real Estate Activity Report (REAR) | Purchase or sale of freehold property paid with AED 55,000 or more in cash, in one payment or several, or paid with or converted from or to a virtual asset. |
| Dealers in Precious Metals and Stones Report (DPMSR) | Cash of AED 55,000 or more from an individual, or AED 55,000 or more in cash or by wire transfer from a company. |
| High Risk Country reports (HRC, HRCA) | A transaction or activity involving a country the National Committee lists as high risk. |
| Partial Name Match Report (PNMR) | A potential match against a sanctions list. |
| Funds Freeze Report (FFR) | A confirmed sanctions match, covering any freeze, refusal of funds or services, or attempted transaction. |
| Additional information and requests for information (AIF, RFI) | When the Financial Intelligence Unit asks for more through the goAML Message Board. |
A high-risk country transaction or activity may only be executed three working days after it is reported, and only if the Financial Intelligence Unit has not objected in that period.
The AED 55,000 reports, explained.
A threshold report is a record of a transaction. It is not an accusation against your customer. Keep all related documents for at least five years.
Freehold sales with cash or virtual assets
File a REAR when cash of AED 55,000 or more is part of the payment, or when any part is paid in or converted from or to a virtual asset. Obtain the Emirates ID or passport first.
Individual customers
File a DPMSR for cash of AED 55,000 or more. Obtain the Emirates ID or passport of a resident, or the ID or passport of a non-resident.
Company customers
File a DPMSR for AED 55,000 or more in cash or by wire transfer. Obtain the trade licence and the representative's Emirates ID or passport.
What your AML programme must include.
Registration is the start. Cabinet Resolution No. 134 of 2025 sets ongoing duties for every registered business.
What non-compliance can cost.
Penalties come from Federal Decree-Law No. 10 of 2025. A report filed in good faith carries no criminal, civil or administrative liability.
AED 10,000 to AED 5,000,000 per violation
The supervisory body can also issue a warning, suspend or restrict the activity, or revoke the licence. It may publish the penalty.
AED 200,000 to AED 10,000,000
Operating without the required licence, registration or enrolment carries imprisonment and this fine, or either. Unregistered firms have also had their licences suspended.
AED 100,000 to AED 1,000,000
Failing to report a suspicious transaction, deliberately or through gross negligence, carries imprisonment and this fine, or either.
Not less than AED 50,000
Telling a customer they are being reported is a crime. It carries imprisonment and a fine of at least AED 50,000, or either.
Six steps to goAML registration.
Registration runs in two stages, and the first stage must be approved before the second can start.
Start on WhatsApp →Confirm your category and supervisory body
Check your licensed activities against the listed categories and identify the authority that supervises you.
Prepare one PDF file
Merge the trade licence, the registering person's Emirates ID and a signed authorisation letter into a single PDF.
Pre-register on SACM
Apply as a Reporting Entity on the Services Access Control Manager (SACM) at services.uaefiu.gov.ae, using a unique email address and UAE mobile number.
Activate your access
After the supervisory body approves, enter the email and SMS codes within 24 hours and add your secret key to Google Authenticator.
Register the organisation on goAML
Enter the company details and the compliance officer's details, attach the documents and submit the request.
Receive your Org ID and add users
Once the supervisory body approves, your compliance officer can approve other staff and set their permissions.
goAML registration, answered.
Ask anything else on WhatsApp and we will answer for your company.
What is goAML in the UAE?
goAML is the reporting platform of the UAE Financial Intelligence Unit. Registered businesses use it to file suspicious transaction reports, threshold reports and sanctions reports. It has been live since June 2019.
Is goAML registration free?
Yes. Registration on goAML is free. My Eloah Business Hub quotes its own service fee separately on WhatsApp.
Who must register on goAML?
Financial institutions, virtual asset service providers and designated non-financial businesses and professions must register. These include real estate brokers and agents, dealers in precious metals and stones, lawyers, notaries and independent accountants doing certain client work, company and trust service providers, and commercial gaming operators.
What is the AED 55,000 rule?
It is the threshold for two reports. Real estate brokers report freehold sales involving AED 55,000 or more in cash, and precious metals dealers report cash transactions of AED 55,000 or more. For company customers of precious metals dealers, wire transfers count as well.
Does a business setup or corporate services firm need goAML?
Yes, if it acts as a formation agent or provides a registered office, business address, correspondence address or administrative address for companies. That activity makes the firm a company service provider under the rules.
What is the penalty for not registering on goAML?
Supervisory bodies can impose administrative fines of AED 10,000 to AED 5,000,000 per violation and suspend or revoke the licence. Operating without the required registration can also carry imprisonment and a fine of AED 200,000 to AED 10,000,000.
How long must AML records be kept?
Records must be kept for five years and be available to the authorities straight away. The same five-year minimum applies to documents behind real estate and precious metals threshold reports.
What is SACM and why is it needed first?
SACM is the Services Access Control Manager, the secure gateway to goAML. It issues the username and the Google Authenticator secret key that you need to open goAML, so goAML registration cannot start without it.
Get your goAML file ready to submit
Send your trade licence on WhatsApp and we will tell you whether you must register and what the file needs.