Must a UAE real estate broker keep records of a transaction that did not complete?

UAE
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Yes. Record-keeping obligations are not limited to completed sales. A broker should retain the customer due diligence records, correspondence and transaction data relating to attempted or abandoned transactions, particularly where the deal fell through because due diligence could not be completed or because suspicion arose. These records are often the most relevant evidence for the authorities, since a transaction abandoned after a customer refused to disclose beneficial ownership can itself be the subject of a Suspicious Transaction Report.

Circular 5/2022 requires brokers to keep documents and information relating to reportable transactions for at least five years, and the Federal Decree-Law requires all records relating to transactions to be retained and made immediately available to the competent authorities on request. The five-year clock generally runs from the end of the business relationship or the date of the transaction. Discarding the file on an aborted suspicious deal would undermine both the audit trail and the broker’s own defence.

Legal Reference (UAE):

For more details, consult the full text of the cited law or seek guidance from your AML compliance officer.

MoET supplemental guidance for real estate agents and brokers

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Yes. The retention obligation is not limited to completed deals. Records and documents obtained through customer due diligence measures, ongoing monitoring, account files, business correspondence, copies of personal identification documents, suspicious transaction reports and the results of any analysis must all be retained for not less than five years. A file that was opened, worked and then abandoned falls squarely within that.

There is a specific reason to keep an abandoned file rather than discard it. Where the broker walked away because customer due diligence could not be completed, or because it suspected a crime, the file is the evidence of why it stopped, and the reasons for not applying due diligence measures are themselves required to be recorded when a report is filed on that basis. The five-year period runs from the latest of the relevant events, including completion of a supervisory inspection or an investigation, so the clock is not necessarily set by the date the deal fell away.

Legal Reference (UAE):

· Cabinet Resolution No. 134 of 2025, Article 25(2), which requires retention of customer due diligence records, correspondence, identification documents, suspicious transaction reports and analysis results for not less than five years, calculated by reference to the most recent of the listed events.

· Cabinet Resolution No. 134 of 2025, Article 14, which requires the reasons for not applying customer due diligence measures to be stated where a report is filed on that basis.

· Cabinet Resolution No. 134 of 2025, Article 25(3), which requires records to be organised so as to permit the reconstruction of individual transactions.

Where the position is finely balanced, document your reasoning and raise it with your compliance officer.

AML record keeping requirements in the UAE