US authorities have unsealed an indictment against three men accused of conspiring to divert advanced artificial intelligence server technology from the United States to China in breach of export control laws. Announced on 19 March 2026, the case centres on allegations that high performance servers containing controlled AI graphics processing units were routed through Taiwan and Southeast Asia before reaching Chinese customers, with prosecutors claiming the operation was supp

The US Department of Justice has used the Balt SAS case to send a dual message on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement. Companies that voluntarily self-disclose, cooperate fully and remediate quickly may secure a declination, but individuals tied to the same conduct remain firmly in prosecutors’ sights. That combination makes this a notable development for healthcare, life sciences and other internationally exposed sectors. Balt SAS, a France-headquartered medical device

On 26 January 2026, the Home Secretary published a policing reform white paper that proposed the most significant restructuring of UK law enforcement in nearly two centuries. At its centre was the creation of a National Police Service (NPS), a single national force that would absorb the National Crime Agency (NCA), Counter Terrorism Policing and Regional Organised Crime Units into one organisation. The white paper, titled From Local to National: A New Model for Policing, desc

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) has updated its guidance on assessing “reasonableness” in sanctions licence applications, introducing more prescriptive evidential requirements and higher expectations for applicants across all UK financial sanctions regimes. The most significant development is the introduction of mandatory independent Costs Draftsperson’s Reports (CDPRs) for high-value legal fees. Where legal costs exceed £2,000,000 for law firms or £1,

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has banned Kasim Garipoglu from working in UK financial services after concluding that he is not fit and proper because of a sustained lack of honesty and integrity. The decision marks another high-profile enforcement action as the regulator continues to prioritise financial crime, senior manager accountability and market integrity. According to the FCA, Garipoglu, who owned a firm offering online foreign exchange and contracts trading, r

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) has updated its approach to assessing the “reasonableness” of costs submitted in sanctions licence applications, introducing new evidential expectations for high value legal fees and complex maintenance claims. The updated guidance, published on 13 March 2026, applies across all UK financial sanctions regimes and builds on OFSI’s original 2021 framework for evaluating licence applications. The update focuses primarily on

The UK government has introduced improvements to the statutory guidance covering UK sanctions regimes, with changes designed to make the material clearer and easier for users to navigate. The updates focus on structure, wording and accessibility rather than policy changes, meaning firms do not need to take any action. The revised guidance reorganises key sections to improve readability and usability. Authorities emphasised that the updates do not change the meaning of the exi

In January 2024, the UK amended its Money Laundering Regulations to introduce a statutory presumption that domestic politically exposed persons (PEPs) present a lower level of risk than their foreign counterparts. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) cemented this position in July 2025 with Finalised Guidance FG 25/3, instructing firms to apply less intrusive measures to UK PEPs unless other risk factors intervene. The message was clear: domestic political exposure, in the U

There's a quiet transaction happening every day in the financial services and compliance world - and most people don't talk about it. Women give their expertise, their networks, their late nights, and their sharp thinking. They give mentorship to those coming up behind them, patience to institutions still catching up, and ideas that quietly shape decisions made by others. What they gain in return has, for too long, been inconsistent at best. This International Women's Day, th

The United States has filed civil forfeiture complaints seeking the seizure of more than $15.3 million allegedly linked to an illicit Iranian oil shipping and distribution network operating in violation of US sanctions. The Department of Justice (DOJ) alleges the funds were used to support a sanctions evasion scheme tied to Iran’s National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including the IRGC-Quds Force (IRGC-QF), both designated Fore

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has imposed an $80m civil money penalty on broker-dealer Canaccord Genuity LLC for willful violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), marking the largest enforcement action ever taken against a broker-dealer under the anti-money laundering (AML) framework. According to the U.S Department of the Treasury, Canaccord failed to implement and maintain an effective AML programme, conduct appropriate customer due diligence (CDD), and

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has updated its global lists of jurisdictions with strategic deficiencies in anti-money laundering, combating the financing of terrorism and counter-proliferation finance (AML/CFT/CPF), prompting the U.S Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to alert financial institutions to the changes. Following its February plenary meeting, FATF added Kuwait and Papua New Guinea to its list of jurisdictions under