Under Article 8 of the AML-CFT Decision, insurance operators are required to identify and verify the identities of all customers. Customers should generally be identified and verified prior to establishing a business relationship. However, in exceptional circumstances, as per Article 4.3 of the AML-CFT Decision, where there is no ML/FT suspicion and ML/FT risks are assessed to be low, an operator may complete the verification of the customer’s identity after establishing a business relationship, as set forth in section 3.3.3 below.

When verifying the Emirates ID card either physically, by way of digital or electronic Know Your Customer (e-KYC) solutions, the insurance operator must use the online validation gateway of the Federal Authority for Identity & Citizenship, Customs & Port Security, the UAE-Pass Application or other UAE Government supported solutions, and keep a copy of the Emirates ID and its digital verification record. Where passports, other than the Emirates ID are used in the KYC process, a copy must be physically obtained from the original passport which must be certified (i.e. certified copy) as “Original Sighted and Verified” under the signature of the employee who carries out the CDD process and retained.

Please consult also the CBUAE’s AML/CFT Guidelines for Financial Institutions, section 6.3.1, for further information.