UAE Central Bank Orders Urgent Forensic Review of Banque Misr Branches
The Central Bank of the UAE has ordered a special and urgent examination of Banque Misr’s branches in the country following the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s proposal to treat Banque Misr UAE as a foreign financial institution of primary money laundering concern.
In a statement issued on 29 August 2026 and carried by the UAE’s official WAM news agency, the central bank said the review will include a forensic and in-depth lookback covering the period cited by U.S. authorities. The examination will focus in particular on banking transactions involving companies identified in the U.S. notice.
The move is a new supervisory stage rather than a final enforcement finding. The Central Bank of the UAE said Banque Misr’s UAE branches remain subject to UAE laws and regulations and stressed that licensed banks are expected to avoid exposing the country’s financial system to reputational risk, comply with relevant legal requirements and avoid misuse of the UAE’s financial infrastructure.
The regulator also said it routinely examines banks’ AML/CFT procedures, including the effectiveness of sanctions-screening and other control systems, and requires institutions to strengthen those controls where necessary.
The UAE review follows FinCEN’s 28 August notice of proposed rulemaking. FinCEN estimated that 103 companies potentially linked to Iranian shadow-banking networks processed about US$1.8 billion through Banque Misr’s UAE operations between January 2024 and June 2026. The U.S. proposal would restrict U.S. correspondent-account access involving Banque Misr UAE, but it remains a proposed rule and has not yet taken final effect.
The UAE central bank said it is also studying available options regarding Banque Misr’s status in the country if the U.S. special measure is ultimately imposed. Any decision will take account of the bank’s obligations to customers in the UAE.
Banque Misr separately said it is reviewing the U.S. proposal, intends to cooperate with the relevant authorities and continues to provide services through its UAE branch under applicable rules. The bank emphasised that the U.S. proposal applies to its UAE operations rather than its business in Egypt or other jurisdictions.
For compliance teams, the development turns the U.S. proposal into a cross-border supervisory issue: the UAE regulator is now conducting its own transaction-level lookback while the U.S. rulemaking remains pending.
