Regulations
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Can financial institutions use AWS?
Yes. Financial institutions in the DIFC are permitted to use cloud services, provided that they comply with applicable legal and regulatory requirements, such as those described below.
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Who is the financial regulator?
The Dubai Financial Services Authority ("DFSA") regulates and supervises companies conducting financial services business in or from the DIFC.
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What regulations apply to financial institutions using AWS?
Financial institutions in the DIFC may be subject to a number of different legal and regulatory requirements when they use cloud services.
Regulations issued by the DFSA, together with relevant DIFC and UAE laws and regulations, provide a framework for financial institutions in the DIFC when they are planning to use cloud services. The framework covers a variety of contractual and operational areas including, but not limited to, due diligence, risk management, business continuity, record keeping, reporting, and monitoring and oversight. Key regulations include the following:
- DIFC Law No. 1 of 2004, or the ‘Regulatory Law 2004’ which lays out the DFSA’s regulatory powers, functions, and objectives
- Federal Law by Decree No 32 of 2021, or the Commercial Companies Law
- Dubai Law No. 5 of 2021 concerning the DIFC
- Guidelines for Financial Institutions adopting Enabling Technologies
- DFSA Authorised Market Institutions Rulebook
- DFSA General ("GEN") Rulebook – including rules on systems, controls and outsourcing
- DFSA AML, CTF and Sanctions Rulebook
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 institution customers to obtain appropriate advice on their compliance with all regulatory and legal requirements that are relevant to their business, local regulations, guidelines and laws.
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Key considerations for financial institutions using AWS
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, DFSA authorised firms should provide the DFSA with details of the cloud services to be employed as part of a new material outsourcing arrangement.
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.
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Key data privacy and protection considerations for financial institutions using AWS
Financial institutions in the DIFC using AWS should also consider applicable privacy requirements, including the Data Protection Law No. 5 of 2020, the corresponding DIFC Data Protection Regulations and the related guidance as well as banking secrecy rules in the DIFC's Law of Obligations.
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.
Resources
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Country-specific
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General
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Compliance Programs
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Country-specific
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The following resources are available for download through AWS Artifact. Please note that an AWS account will be required to access AWS Artifact.
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.
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General
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AWS User Guide for Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA)
The following resources are available for download through AWS Artifact. Please note that an AWS account will be required to access AWS Artifact.
This guide provides information regarding the adoption of Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud for entities regulated by the European Banking Authority (EBA), the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA), and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), who are subject to the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA).
Navigating GDPR Compliance on AWSThe following resources are publicly available:
Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) 3.2.1 on AWSThis document provides information about services and resources that Amazon Web Services (AWS) offers customers to help them align with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that might apply to their activities. These include adherence to IT security standards, the AWS Cloud Computing Compliance Controls Catalog (C5) attestation, adherence to the Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe (CISPE) Code of Conduct, data access controls, monitoring and logging tools, encryption, and key management.
Using AWS in the Context of Common Privacy and Data Protection ConsiderationsThis guide provides customers with sufficient 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 3.2.1 requirements, planning of evidence gathering to meet assessment testing procedures, and explaining their control implementation to their PCI Qualified Security Assessor (QSA).
AWS Compliance Quick Reference GuideThis 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 Operational ResilienceAWS 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.
Data Classification and Secure Cloud AdoptionThe purpose of this paper is to describe how AWS and our customers in the financial services industry achieve operational resilience using AWS services.
AWS Policy Perspectives: Data ResidencyThis 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 Risk and ComplianceThis 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 Security Audit GuidelinesThis 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.
Guidelines for systematically reviewing and monitoring your AWS resources for security best practices.
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Compliance Programs
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Dubai Electronic Security Centre (DESC) Cloud Service Provider (CSP) Security Standard
ISO 9001
PCI DSS Level 1
United Arab Emirates (UAE) Information Assurance Regulation (IAR)
ISO 27001
SOC
CSA
ISO 27017
GDPR
ISO 27018
We are continually adapting to evolving regulations. Check often for updates.
