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Kuwait fines brokers and gold traders for repeated anti-money laundering violations

Anti Money Laundering

Business Honor
24 November, 2025

Ministry targets real estate and gold sectors to strengthen national compliance and financial transparency.

Kuwait's Ministry of Commerce and Industry has issued a string of punishments to firms in the real estate brokerage and gold trading fields, following the detection of several violations regarding Kuwait's laws on AML and counter-terrorism financing. According to the Ministry, the breaches, which came to light between August and October, reveal further steps to boost transparency and bolster Kuwait's financial compliance structure.

In a statement, the Ministry pointed out that the penalty reflects its national duty for promoting deterrence and adherence to legal standards at all licensed entities. First to come under scrutiny was the real estate sector, where three brokerage firms were fined 500 Kuwaiti dinars each for failure to provide legally and ministerially required risk assessment studies. Another 500-dinar penalty was imposed for the failure to establish internal systems, controls, and procedures needed to prevent money laundering and terrorism financing.

Other violations were recorded for the gold, precious stones, and precious metals sector. There were fines of 500 dinars against companies that did not apply appropriate AML and counter-terrorism financing measures internally. Another fine of 1,000 dinars was imposed on an entity that received in excess of 3,000 dinars in cash when settling less than 50 invoices, in direct contravention of financial reporting requirements intended to prevent illicit transactions. Similarly, a 1,000-dinar fine was levied for failure to employ due diligence checks on invoices above the same threshold.

In addition, the companies were each fined 500 dinars for failure to identify the beneficial owner of a purchase and to maintain an appropriate ownership structure, which is a basic need in tracing financial accountability. The Ministry confirmed that four companies in the gold and precious metals sector also received 500-dinar fines each for failure to submit risk assessment studies required under Kuwait's AML laws. It said that it will continue inspections across high-risk sectors to ensure full compliance with national financial security regulations and international AML standards.