VARA is quite aggressive; they update risk assessments every three months, and AI businesses must also fit into the compliance framework. The Dubai crypto scene is about to heat up.

Wu Shuo learned that the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) has issued the latest anti-money laundering guidelines, requiring local virtual asset service providers (VASPs) to adopt data-driven risk models, strengthen anti-money laundering and financial crime risk controls, and connect to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) high-risk and blacklisted country information. Risk assessments related to crypto businesses should be updated at least every three months. The guidelines also require companies to incorporate risks such as artificial intelligence operations, anonymous enhanced transactions, diffusion financing, and targeted financial sanctions into their compliance frameworks.