Dubai’s VARA Puts VASPs on Notice: Q2 2026 Review to Enforce Data-Driven AML

• Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) has warned VASPs of “major weaknesses” in their AML/CFT risk assessments.
• The regulator found firms were failing to address new threats like AI, Proliferation Financing (PF), and Targeted Financial Sanctions (TFS).
• VARA is now mandating quarterly reviews of these assessments and will conduct a thematic review in Q2 2026, with enforcement to follow.

Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) has issued a formal warning to several Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs). The warning follows supervisory reviews in 2024 and 2025 that found “major weaknesses” in their Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) Business Risk Assessments (BRA).

Related: VARA Penalizes 19 Crypto Firms for Operating Without Licenses in Dubai

Firms Failed to Address AI, Proliferation Financing Ri…

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