Are TCSPs (Corporate Service Providers) DNFBPs in the UAE?
Yes. A TCSP, a trust or company service provider, is a designated non-financial business and profession (DNFBP) under Cabinet Resolution 134 of 2025 (Article 3). You are in scope when, on behalf of a customer, you act as an incorporation agent, act as or arrange a director, secretary or partner, provide a registered office or business address, act as trustee of an express trust, or act as a nominee shareholder. The Ministry of Economy supervises the sector.
Which TCSP Services Bring you into Sope?
You are a DNFBP when, for or on behalf of a customer, you:
Act as an agent in the formation or incorporation of a company or other legal person.
Act as, or arrange for another person to act as, a director, secretary or partner.
Provide a registered office, business address or correspondence address.
Act as a trustee of an express trust, or in an equivalent role.
Act as, or arrange for another person to act as, a nominee shareholder.
Because these services can be used to hide who really owns and controls a company, TCSPs are treated as a higher-risk gateway and given the same core AML duties as banks.
What AML Obligations do TCSPs Have?
As a DNFBP, a corporate or trust service provider owes the full set of AML duties:
Register on the FIU's goAML platform and appoint a compliance officer or MLRO.
Carry out a business-wide risk assessment of your money-laundering exposure.
Perform customer due diligence and identify the true beneficial owners behind each structure.
Apply enhanced due diligence to higher-risk customers, including PEPs.
Screen customers and beneficial owners against the UAE Local Terrorist List and the UN Consolidated List.
Report suspicious transactions through goAML, and avoid tipping off the customer.
Keep records for at least five years and train your staff.
Have the AML programme independently audited.
Money-Laundering Red Flags for TCSPs
Patterns that should prompt a closer look, and possibly a report, include:
A customer unwilling to reveal the true beneficial owner or controller.
Complex or multi-layered structures with no clear commercial purpose.
Frequent or unexplained use of nominee directors or nominee shareholders.
Companies formed quickly then left dormant, or rapidly changing ownership.
Customers or funds connected to high-risk jurisdictions.
Reluctance to explain the source of funds or the purpose of a structure.
Requests for unusual secrecy or to keep the provider at arm's length.
About this AML course for TCSPs
This practical course teaches corporate and trust service providers what the UAE AML framework requires of them. You learn why TCSPs are DNFBPs, which services bring you into scope, and how to build the controls the law expects, with a strong focus on seeing through structures to the real beneficial owner. It is grounded in the UAE framework, Federal Decree-Law No. 10 of 2025 and Cabinet Resolution 134 of 2025, but the gatekeeper duties for TCSPs are a global FATF standard. Practitioner-led, with a certificate on completion. You can start free.
What you will Learn in this TCSP AML Course
By the end of the course you will be able to:
Explain why TCSPs are DNFBPs in the UAE.
Identify which corporate and trust services bring you into scope.
Perform customer due diligence and identify the true beneficial owners.
Apply enhanced due diligence to higher-risk customers and PEPs.
Recognise the red flags around nominee arrangements and complex structures.
Report suspicious activity through goAML without tipping off the customer.
Why this TCSP AML Course is Worth your Time
Corporate and trust service providers sit at the point where companies and structures are created, which is exactly what criminals exploit to hide ownership and move illicit money. That makes TCSPs a clear gatekeeper, and a focus for UAE supervision and enforcement. Providers who can see through a structure to the real owner, and act when something looks wrong, protect their licence and their reputation.
The obligations are set out in law. TCSPs are DNFBPs under Cabinet Resolution 134 of 2025 (Article 3), and must run a full AML programme: risk assessment, customer due diligence, beneficial-owner identification, screening, suspicious-transaction reporting through goAML under Federal Decree-Law No. 10 of 2025 (Article 18), and record-keeping. The gatekeeper role for TCSPs is a global standard, so the skills travel.
Practical takeaway
You will know when your services bring you into scope, how to find the real beneficial owner, and when and how to report.TCSP AML Course Curriculum
Who should Take this Course
Owners and staff of company-formation agents, corporate service providers and trust service providers, registered-agent and registered-office providers, and the compliance officers and MLROs who support them. No prior AML qualification is needed. The course is built around the UAE framework but is useful in any FATF-aligned regime.
What you Get
A practical, self-paced online course you can complete in a single focused session.
A certificate of completion you can keep as evidence of training.
A beneficial-ownership and due-diligence routine you can apply to every engagement.
By the end of this course you will know when your services bring you into AML scope, how to find the real beneficial owner behind a structure, and when and how to report a concern under UAE law. Equip yourself and your team to meet your gatekeeper duties, avoid the penalties hitting the sector, and protect your licence and reputation. Join us and close the door on the misuse of corporate structures.
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Why Learn with Pro AML Training
ProAML Training is part of NIYEAHMA's AMLVerse, a global AML compliance ecosystem that connects consulting, regulatory knowledge and technology, including the consulting practice AML UAE. Courses are built and taught by practising compliance professionals, among them founder Pathik Shah (FCA, CAMS, CISA), who brings more than 28 years in governance, risk and compliance. That means the material is practical, current and grounded in real casework rather than recycled theory.
Practitioner-led: written and delivered by working AML professionals, not generalist course writers.
Practical and job-ready: focused on what you do at your desk, with real red flags, templates and worked examples.
Current: kept in step with FATF standards and the latest national rules, so you are not learning last year's framework.
Globally relevant: principles apply across jurisdictions, with strong depth in high-demand markets such as the UAE.