Who does CMA Rulebook Chapter Five apply to?
Chapter Five applies to every entity licensed by the CMA to carry on any of the financial activities specified in the Financial Activities Rulebook, excluding credit rating agencies, and to all virtual asset service providers licensed or registered by the Authority. It also binds the members of the board of directors, senior management and employees of those entities.
This is broader than many firms assume. The obligations do not stop at the licensed entity: individual directors, senior managers and staff are directly in scope, and Chapter Eleven makes compliance the responsibility of every board member, every member of senior management and the compliance officer personally. Chapter Five is a mandatory standard rather than an internal procedures manual, so a firm cannot adopt it verbatim and call it a policy. It must write its own AML/CFT programme that delivers what Chapter Five requires.
Legal Reference (UAE CMA):
· CMA Rulebook Chapter Five, AML/CFT Controls, sets the scope of application and binds directors, senior management and employees.
· Federal Decree-Law No. 10 of 2025, Article 19: the core preventive obligations for financial institutions that Chapter Five implements.
· Cabinet Resolution No. 134 of 2025, Article 2: the financial activities that bring an entity into scope.
This answer covers entities licensed by the UAE Capital Market Authority (CMA). Firms in ADGM or DIFC follow their own regulator’s rulebook and the requirements differ.