When the UK launched the world’s first public beneficial ownership register in 2016, it was hailed as a breakthrough for financial transparency. The Persons of Significant Control (PSC) register positioned the UK as a reformer willing to pierce the corporate veil. The logic was compelling: sunlight would disinfect the system, deterring corrupt actors and strengthening public confidence in the legitimacy of corporate Britain. Yet almost a decade later, the system continues to

A Chinese national has been extradited from Guatemala to the United States to face sweeping federal charges that underline Washington’s increasingly aggressive use of counterterrorism laws against transnational organised crime. Wenshen Xu was extradited on 30 January 2026 to the Eastern District of Virginia, where he has been indicted for conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States, laundering proceeds from drug trafficking and providing material support to a designat

A federal jury in the Middle District of Florida has convicted former NFL player Joel Rufus French for his role in a sprawling healthcare fraud scheme that defrauded Medicare and the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) of nearly $200 million. The case represents one of the more egregious examples of patient exploitation seen in recent US healthcare fraud prosecutions and underscores persistent weaknesses in telemedicine, durable

A New York woman has been sentenced to two years in prison for laundering more than 20 million US dollars in drug trafficking proceeds, underscoring the continued vulnerability of legitimate businesses to sophisticated trade-based money laundering schemes. The sentencing, announced on Monday, 2 February 2026, follows a long-running investigation into cross-border laundering activity linked to organised crime networks in the United States, Mexico and China. According to court

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation's £160,000 monetary penalty against Bank of Scotland plc is not significant because of its size, nor because it followed voluntary disclosure. It matters because it shows, with unusual clarity, how the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) now evaluates sanctions compliance in practice. The case illustrates a decisive shift in regulatory emphasis. Transliteration risk is treated not as a technical anomaly but as a

A former TD Bank employee has pleaded guilty to accepting bribes and facilitating the laundering of more than 5.5 million dollars to Colombia, in a case that starkly illustrates the continuing vulnerability of banks to insider-enabled financial crime. On 30 January 2026, the US Department of Justice announced that Leonardo Ayala, a 25-year-old from Homestead, Florida, admitted to exploiting his role at TD Bank to support a cross-border money laundering scheme linked to drug t

A senior official at the United States African Development Foundation (USADF) has agreed to plead guilty to federal criminal charges after admitting to accepting illicit gratuities from a government contractor and making false statements to law enforcement. The case highlights persistent vulnerabilities in public sector contracting oversight, particularly in the management of overseas development funds. On 30 January 2026, the US Department of Justice announced that Mathieu Z

A former General Services Administration (GSA) contracting officer’s representative has pleaded guilty to a bribery conspiracy, reinforcing longstanding concerns around corruption risks in public procurement and government contracting. The case underscores how abuse of authority within procurement functions continues to present significant integrity and financial crime risks, despite established controls and oversight frameworks. On 29 January 2026, Lennie Lamont Miller, aged

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) has published its response to a public consultation on significant changes to its enforcement framework, marking a material shift in how the UK enforces financial sanctions. Announced on 29 January 2026 by Giles Thomson, Director of OFSI, the revised approach is designed to deliver faster outcomes, greater transparency for firms and a more robust deterrent against sanctions breaches. The reforms follow a 2025 cross-gover

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) has signalled a clear escalation in its approach to cryptoassets, confirming that digital assets are now firmly embedded within the UK’s sanctions enforcement perimeter. In a blog published on 28 January 2026, OFSI outlined how sanctions enablers are increasingly attempting to exploit cryptoassets to move and conceal illicit funds, and how UK authorities are responding through coordinated, intelligence-led action. Centra