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AWS Compliance Center

Note

Note: This compliance page refers to UAE regulations, excluding the Dubai International Financial Centre (the "DIFC") and the Abu Dhabi Financial Free Zone (the "ADGM"). For more information on the DIFC and the ADGM, please refer to their respective compliance pages.

Regulations

This page provides AWS financial institution customers with information about the legal and regulatory requirements in the UAE which may apply to their use of AWS services.

Yes. Financial institutions in the UAE are permitted to use cloud services, provided that they comply with applicable legal and regulatory requirements, such as those described below. 

The Central Bank of UAE (“CBUAE”) is responsible for regulating banks, insurers, cooperative financial institutions, financial conglomerates, and certain market infrastructures operating onshore (UAE mainland). The CBUAE also regulates Stored Value Facilities (“SVFs”), which are facilities (other than cash) in relation to which a customer pays a sum to the SVF issuer, in exchange for the storage of the value of that money on the facility.

The Securities and Commodities Authority (“SCA”) regulates listed joint-stock companies listed on stock exchanges in the UAE and other companies operating in the securities field, as well as the provision, use, and exchange of virtual assets in and from the UAE, other than the Emirate of Dubai.

The Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (“VARA”) is responsible for regulating and overseeing the provision, use, and exchange of virtual assets in and from the Emirate of Dubai.

Financial Institutions in the UAE may be subject to a number of different legal and regulatory requirements when they use cloud services.

Legislation and relevant guidelines issued by the CBUAE, together with the SCA, as well as the guidelines issued by VARA (specifically in relation to the Emirate of Dubai) provide a framework for financial institutions in the UAE when they are planning to use cloud services or offshore data. Key legislation and guidelines include the following:

The above framework covers a variety of contractual and operational areas, including due diligence, risk management, business continuity, and monitoring and oversight. The AWS User Guide to Financial Services Regulations and Guidelines in the United Arab Emirates , available on AWS Artifact, summarizes the CBUAE requirements and recommendations related to outsourcing, IT risk, and the cloud. This guide is particularly useful for CBUAE regulated institutions looking to run material workloads using AWS services.

Customers that have questions about the applicable regulations, and how these may apply to their use of AWS services, can reach out to their account representative.

Regulations are changing rapidly in this space, and AWS is working to help customers proactively respond to new rules and guidelines. AWS encourages its financial institutions customers to obtain appropriate advice on their compliance with all regulatory and legal requirements that are relevant to their business, including other local regulations, guidelines and laws.

AWS is committed to offering customers a strong compliance framework and advanced tools and security measures that customers can use to evaluate meet, and demonstrate compliance with applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

Financial institutions who are using or planning to use AWS services can take the following steps to better understand their compliance needs:

1. Consider the purpose of the workload(s) under consideration and the relevant categories of data in order to anticipate which legal and regulatory requirements may apply.

2. Assess the materiality or criticality of the relevant workload(s) in light of local requirements. For example:

a. Prior to outsourcing any material activity, customers regulated under Outsourcing Regulation for Banks , must obtain a prior notice of non-objection from the Central Bank and should also consult with the CBUAE prior to offshoring a material business activity or confidential data.

b. Any customers regulated by VARA, in line with VARA’s Technology and Information Handbook , are required to put in place adequate policies in relation to cybersecurity and risk assessment and ensure any outsourcing complies with such policies.

c. Any customers regulated by the SCA that operate virtual asset wallets must in the course of any outsourcing, ensure adherence to certain security standards, review relevant service agreements, and consider requirements relating to record keeping and data protection under SCA’s Doing Business Guide .

3. Review the AWS Shared Responsibility Model and map AWS responsibilities and customer responsibilities according to each AWS service that will be used. Customers can also use AWS Artifact to access AWS’s audit reports and conduct their assessment of the control responsibilities.

4. Customers who have further questions about how AWS services can enable their security and compliance needs, or who would like more information, can contact their account representative.

Financial institutions in the UAE using AWS should also consider applicable privacy requirements, including Federal Decree Law No. 45 of 2021 . Customers can refer to the UAE Data Privacy page for further questions on Data Privacy regulations in the UAE.

If customers process or are planning to process the personal data of data subjects in the European Union (EU), they should visit AWS’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Center . More information on these requirements is included in Navigating GDPR Compliance on AWS .

Many organizations in both the public and private sectors have data residency requirements, driven by legal and regulatory demands. With AWS Outposts they can bring the advantages of the cloud to their facilities, while storing and processing data in their chosen location.

Resources

Country-specific

The following resources are available for download through AWS Artifact. Please note that an AWS account will be required to access AWS Artifact.

AWS User Guide to the Outsourcing Regulation and Standards for Banks in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

This guide provides various considerations related to the Central Bank of the UAE’s outsourcing regulation and standards for banks operating in the UAE. It provides information to assist banks operating in the UAE seeking to use AWS Services.

This guide describes the respective roles that the customer and AWS each play in managing and securing the cloud environment, provides an overview of the regulatory requirements and guidance that customers can consider when using AWS, and provides additional resources that customers can use to design and architect their AWS environment to be secure and assist in meeting regulatory expectations.

General

Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) on AWS

This guide provides customers with information to be able to plan for and document the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliance of their AWS workloads. This includes the selection of controls that meet specific PCI DSS requirements, planning of evidence gathering to meet assessment testing procedures, and explaining their control implementation to their PCI Qualified Security Assessor (QSA).

Using AWS in the Context of Common Privacy and Data Protection Considerations

This document provides information to assist customers who want to use AWS to store or process content containing personal data, in the context of common privacy and data protection considerations. It will help customers understand the way AWS services operate, including how customers can address security and encrypt their content. The geographic locations where customers can choose to store content and other relevant considerations. The respective roles the customer and AWS each play in managing and securing content stored on AWS services.

AWS Compliance Quick Reference Guide

AWS has many compliance-enabling features that you can use for your regulated workloads in the AWS cloud. These features allow you to achieve a higher level of security at scale. Cloud-based compliance offers a lower cost of entry, easier operations, and improved agility by providing more oversight, security control, and central automation.

AWS Operational Resilience

The purpose of this paper is to describe how AWS and our customers in the financial services industry achieve operational resilience using AWS services.

Data Classification and Secure Cloud Adoption

This paper provides insight into classification schemes for public and private organizations to leverage when moving data to the cloud. It identifies practices and models currently implemented by global first movers and early adopters, examines how implementation of these schemes can simplify cloud adoption, and recommends practices to harmonize national requirements to internationally recognized standards and frameworks.

AWS Policy Perspectives: Data Residency

This paper addresses: The real and perceived security risks expressed by governments when they demand in-country data residency. Commercial, public sector, and economic impact of in-country data residency policies with a focus on government data. Considerations for governments to evaluate before enforcing requirements that can unintentionally limit public sector digital transformation goals leading to increased cybersecurity risk.

AWS Risk and Compliance

This document is intended to provide information to assist AWS customers with integrating AWS into their existing control framework supporting their IT environment. This document includes a basic approach to evaluating AWS controls and provides information to assist customers with integrating control environments. This document also addresses AWS-specific information around general cloud computing compliance questions.

AWS Security Audit Guidelines

Guidelines for systematically reviewing and monitoring your AWS resources for security best practices.