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Settlement access is centred on the CBUAE-operated UAE Funds Transfer System (UAEFTS), the national RTGS (operational since 2001, UAEFTS 3.0 since 2012) settling in central-bank money in AED, with access conditioned on CBUAE licensing, maintaining a CBUAE account and completing network/application certification. Exchange houses must settle all in-UAE transactions in AED via UAEFTS and obtain CBUAE no-objection to open foreign hedge/correspondent accounts. Cross-border correspondent flows run via SWIFT and increasingly via BUNA/AFAQ and the planned GCC RTGS, reducing reliance on bilateral correspondent chains; de-risking and intensified AML scrutiny shape access for higher-risk corridors.
Outlook
Cross-border correspondent flows continue to run via SWIFT but are increasingly shifting toward BUNA and AFAQ and the planned GCC-wide RTGS, reducing reliance on bilateral correspondent chains over time.
Correspondent Banking, Settlement & Access
The UAE's correspondent-banking access profile has improved materially since its removal from FATF's grey list in February 2024, and the jurisdiction remains outside the 22-jurisdiction list confirmed at the 19 June 2026 Plenary. The UAE's fifth-round mutual evaluation is due in 2026, and cumulative 2025 AML/CFT fines exceeding AED370 million, including the AED20 million institutional fine and AED300,000 personal Money Laundering Reporting Officer fine imposed 24 June 2026, are read as sustaining correspondent-banking confidence ahead of that evaluation by demonstrating active enforcement rather than passive grey-list-exit compliance.
The bank-versus-nonbank access asymmetry that typically defines this module's analytical spine is only partially evidenced this cycle: the FATF grey-list status finding applies across both bank and nonbank payment institutions, while the specific CBUAE enforcement action targeted a bank branch. No nonbank-specific correspondent-access development was identified this cycle, so the asymmetry point should be read as a standing structural feature of correspondent banking generally, banks typically hold direct correspondent relationships while nonbank payment institutions and EMIs access cross-border settlement indirectly through sponsor banks, rather than as a UAE-specific finding this cycle.
Outlook
The primary marker to watch is the outcome of the UAE's fifth-round FATF mutual evaluation, expected in the fourth quarter of 2026, which will directly test whether the correspondent-banking-confidence improvement described here is confirmed or whether the evaluation identifies new effectiveness gaps that could affect access terms for UAE-domiciled banks and payment institutions.
Sources and findings (4)
- T1https://www.centralbank.ae/en/our-operations/payments-and-settlements/retrieved
- T1https://rulebook.centralbank.ae/en/rulebook/standards-regulations-regarding-licensing-and-monitoring-exchange-businessretrieved
- T3https://farazzafar.com/blog/my-blogs-and-position-papers-1/post/uae-central-bank-payment-and-settlement-systems-60retrieved
- T3https://www.ib.barclays/our-insights/payments-evolution-in-the-uae-and-middle-east.htmlretrieved