During the recent MENA FATF (Financial Action Task Force) regional body’s workshop attendees adopted several recommendation proposes by Abu Dhabi including those pertaining to virtual assets, in the fight against money laundering, and terrorism. The Abu Dhabi recommendations consist of 24 best practice commitments made by MENAFATF member states for enhancing regional efforts to counter money laundering and financing of terrorism. The recommendations were agreed at the closing of the MENAFATF Typologies and Capacity Building Workshop held between 6-8 March 2023 under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Chairman of the Higher Committee Overseeing the National Strategy on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism, and hosted by the UAE Executive Office of Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing (EO AML/CTF) in Abu Dhabi. Of the 24 recommendation five pertained to virtual assets. The first d