02Your obligation here
Bahrain runs banking and financial-institution supervision through a single supervisor. The Central Bank of Bahrain licenses the firm, supervises it prudentially, and sets the AML/CFT rulebook it operates under. Whatever licence category you hold, the obligation behind it is the same in shape: a named, fit-and-proper compliance officer, a written AML/CFT programme, a documented risk assessment, risk-based customer due diligence, transaction monitoring, sanctions and PEP screening, and suspicious-transaction reporting to the national Financial Intelligence Directorate.
Licensing & prudential
CBB The Central Bank of Bahrain licenses and supervises banks and financial institutions. Public licensing directory: cbb.gov.bh/licensing-directory
AML/CFT supervisor
CBB The Central Bank of Bahrain is also the AML/CFT supervisor for its licensed financial institutions, through the applicable module of its rulebook.
Financial intelligence
FID The Financial Intelligence Directorate is the national FIU that receives suspicious-transaction reports from reporting institutions.
Any specific CBB rulebook threshold, capital requirement, compliance-officer residency rule, filing deadline or transition date is confirmed against the CBB's own rulebook before it is stated. The sentence stays generic if unconfirmed.
03What we build in Bahrain banking
01Licensing & new-regime buildThe AML/CFT programme the CBB expects behind a banking or FI authorisation: enterprise-wide risk assessment, policies and procedures, the compliance and MLRO function, correspondent-banking and screening controls, the file that survives the authorisation review.Detail →
02RemediationAfter a CBB finding, an inspection deficiency or a failed audit: gap analysis against the applicable rulebook, a fix that closes the finding, and the evidence trail to prove closure at re-inspection.Detail →
03Outsourced & bridge MLRO + FIUA senior compliance officer or bridge MLRO while you recruit, plus a managed financial-intelligence function: alert triage, investigations, and suspicious-transaction reporting to the Financial Intelligence Directorate.Detail →
04Independent AML auditThe independent review of your banking programme that the CBB and your board expect, tested against the current framework, with findings you can act on.Detail →
05Sanctions & integrity DDSanctions and screening controls, correspondent and counterparty due diligence, and integrity checks calibrated to a bank's exposure in the region.Detail →
04Why it is urgent now
Standing exposure
Banking in Bahrain is already fully supervised. The Central Bank of Bahrain licenses and inspects financial institutions, sets the AML/CFT rulebook, and maintains a public licensing directory, so a bank or FI without a defensible AML/CFT programme is exposed at the next inspection, not at some future deadline. The pressure is standing, not seasonal.
Tell us what you are trying to license, fix or run in Bahrain banking.
Fixed scope. No hourly billing. A costed plan within 48 hours.