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 Office for Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervision (OPBAS) has warned that anti-money laundering supervision across professional services still lacks sufficiently strong enforcement to deter poor compliance. In its latest report, OPBAS found that Professional Body Supervisors (PBSs) overseeing legal and accountancy firms are more effective than at any point since the body was established in 2018. However, the regulator concluded that several supervisors contin

Takeshi Ebisawa, a Japanese national, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison in the United States for his role in an international criminal conspiracy involving nuclear materials trafficking, narcotics distribution, firearms dealing and money laundering. The sentencing was handed down by US District Judge Colleen McMahon in the Southern District of New York after Ebisawa pleaded guilty to six charges related to the scheme. The case centred on an extensive criminal network s

On 22 January 2026, the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee published a stark verdict on the state of artificial intelligence in UK financial services. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Bank of England and HM Treasury, the Committee concluded, are not doing enough to manage the risks presented by AI. By adopting a wait-and-see approach, the authorities are exposing consumers and the financial system to potentially serious harm. The Committee’s Chair, Dame Meg

The US Department of the Treasury has moved to sever Swiss lender MBaer Merchant Bank AG from the US financial system, citing its alleged role in facilitating illicit finance linked to Iran and Russia. In a notice of proposed rulemaking published on 26 February 2026, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) set out plans that would prohibit covered US financial institutions from opening or maintaining correspondent accounts for, or on behalf of, MBaer. The proposed a

For two decades, the compliance officer has occupied a paradoxical space within financial institutions: indispensable yet often isolated, empowered by regulation but constrained by corporate politics. The role was conceived in the aftermath of global scandals that exposed the fragility of internal oversight, from money-laundering networks that thrived on professional complacency to governance structures that prised revenue over responsibility. The compliance function became t

For decades, anti-bribery, anti-money laundering, and sanctions compliance have been treated as distinct disciplines. Each has its own regulators, specialists, and compliance programmes, all designed to address specific manifestations of financial crime. Yet in practice, these systems respond to the same underlying pathology: the misuse of power and opacity to extract value from the state. As the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) sharpens its focus on beneficial ownership an

On 13 February 2026, the US Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued exceptive relief under the 2016 Customer Due Diligence (CDD) Rule, significantly reducing duplicative beneficial ownership requirements for covered financial institutions. The order removes the obligation for institutions to identify and verify the beneficial owners of a legal entity customer every time that customer opens a new account. Instead, beneficial ownership

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has launched a dedicated whistleblower webpage to confidentially receive tips relating to fraud, money laundering and sanctions violations. The move strengthens the United States Department of the Treasury’s intelligence-led enforcement framework and signals a continued focus on leveraging insider information to combat financial crime. FinCEN’s Office of the Whistleblower will accept information concerning violations and consp

A newly unsealed indictment in the District of Vermont has exposed the operational mechanics of a transnational human smuggling and money laundering scheme that exploited the US-Canada border and the US financial system. The case underscores the growing convergence between organised immigration crime, encrypted communications and transactional laundering activity. Francisco Antonio Luna Rosado, a Dominican national unlawfully present in the United States, and Jesus Hernandez

The sentencing of Paxful Holdings Inc marks one of the clearest judicial warnings yet to virtual asset trading platforms that anti-money laundering failures will be treated as criminal conduct, not regulatory oversight. On 11 February 2026, the US Department of Justice confirmed that the peer-to-peer crypto platform was ordered to pay a $4 million criminal penalty after pleading guilty to conspiring to violate the Travel Act, the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), and operating an unlic

The sentencing of Daren Li to the statutory maximum of 20 years’ imprisonment marks a significant escalation in the United States’ crackdown on global cryptocurrency investment fraud and associated money laundering networks. The case underscores the scale, sophistication and transnational reach of scam centre operations operating from Southeast Asia, particularly Cambodia, and highlights the growing convergence between romance fraud, cyber-enabled deception and crypto asset l