Monika Shah
Partner | NIYEAHMA Consultants LLP | AML/CFT Advisory
About
Profile Summary
Monika is a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) and a Partner at NIYEAHMA, advising DNFBPs and regulated businesses across the full AML/CFT compliance lifecycle. Her practice is grounded in the UAE regime, and she has worked with clients across India, Singapore, Australia, the UK, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong and Bahrain, with working command of Federal Decree-Law No. 10 of 2025, Cabinet Decision No. 134 of 2025, and the supervisory expectations of CBUAE, CMA, DFSA, FSRA, MoET, MoJ, GCGRA and VARA.
What sets her apart is range held in a single pair of hands. She can run the enterprise-wide risk assessment, draft the policy, build the CDD and screening model, file the regulatory report, deliver the training and pressure-test the AML software, so clients are not stitching together separate specialists for each stage. To date she has delivered more than 100 AML/CFT frameworks, and has authored 50+ contributions on money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing typologies, emerging risks and red flag indicators.
Her approach is practical and evidence-led. She assesses the programme as it actually operates rather than as it reads on paper, fixes the gaps that carry real risk, and leaves the client's own team able to run and defend the framework once the engagement ends.
Skills
Areas of Expertise
Coverage
Jurisdictions
Fit
Best Suited For
DNFBPs across precious metals, real estate, legal, accounting and corporate services building an AML/CFT framework from the ground up under UAE law.
Entities that need an enterprise-wide or ML/FT/PF risk assessment that will stand up to supervisory scrutiny.
Regulated businesses preparing for an inspection that need an independent health check on the readiness and defensibility of their programme.
Organisations that need ongoing support with CDD, KYC, screening and regulatory reporting, or MLRO functions discharged without a full-time hire.
VASPs and emerging-sector entities mapping their obligations into a coherent, documented framework.
Businesses at the software selection or post-implementation stage that need a practitioner to test whether their AML system genuinely fits their risk.
Social Proof
What Clients Say
Monika has immense knowledge of AML/CFT regulations and, just as importantly, how they translate into practice. She is hands-on with every part of the work, and that made the difference in helping our team understand complex requirements and onboarding scenarios that had previously left us guessing.
She led our ML/FT risk assessment and then aligned our policies and procedures directly to what it found, so the framework reflected our actual business rather than a template. A thorough professional throughout.
Monika supported us with regulatory reporting and gave us clear red flag indicators to identify suspicious transactions and customers. The guidance was practical and easy to act on. A genuine pleasure to work with.