What is the penalty for tipping off in the UAE?
Under Federal Decree-Law No. 10 of 2025, a person who notifies or warns another, or discloses information about transactions under review as suspicious, or reveals that the authorities are making inquiries, faces imprisonment and a fine of not less than fifty thousand dirhams, or either of these penalties. This applies to breaches of the confidentiality duty attached to suspicious transaction information.
The offence can be committed by employees, managers or representatives of a regulated entity, so responsibility is personal, not only institutional. Because tipping off undermines investigations, supervisory authorities also treat weak internal confidentiality controls as a compliance failing that can attract separate administrative penalties. The safest approach is to restrict knowledge of any report to the compliance function on a need-to-know basis and to document the confidentiality obligation in staff policies and training.
Legal Reference (UAE):
· Federal Decree-Law No. 10 of 2025, Article 29(1) - imprisonment and a fine of not less than AED 50,000 for disclosing information on suspicious transactions under review.
· Federal Decree-Law No. 10 of 2025, Article 24 - the underlying confidentiality obligation.
For more details, consult the full text of Federal Decree-Law No. 10 of 2025 or seek guidance from your AML compliance officer.