UBS Financial Services was slapped with a record $125 million joint civil penalty by four regulatory agencies for willful violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, including a failure to implement and maintain an anti-money laundering compliance program and failure to file suspicious activity reports.
AML
Posted inOpinion
Malta AML expert discusses how country is staying ahead of EU AML rules
Elena Tabone of Malta’s FIAU discusses AML/CFT supervision priorities as the unit prepares for AMLA’s 2028 rollout, new EU rules in 2027, a MONEYVAL evaluation, and rising AI-enabled fraud risks.
Posted inBest Practices
The hidden compliance cost of building AI-based AML tools in-house
“We can build that internally” sounds like control and savings — until the subject is AML risk assessment technology. A simple internal build can quietly become a governance liability. The real question isn’t whether the tool can be built, but whether it can be governed.
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Merrill Lynch to pay $7.5M for failure to file Suspicious Activity Reports
Bank of America’s Merrill Lynch brokerage unit has agreed to pay $7.5 million to settle SEC charges that it failed to file numerous Suspicious Activity Reports between April 2020 and September 2024 due to gaps in its transaction monitoring threshold.
Posted inAML
Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Iraq, added to international watchdog’s list for AML failings
Iraq and Bosnia and Herzegovina need to improve their anti-money laundering/countering the financing of terrorism programs and have been added to the FATF’s grey list.
Posted inAML
New AML investigation into Wise adds pressure on compliance in rapid growth fintechs and challenger banks
Belgian authorities are investigating money-transfer fintech Wise for its controls around suspicious transactions worth over $577 million across 30 European countries. The current investigation only concerns the fintech’s EU operations, but the company has a history of fines for weak financial controls in several regions, including the U.S. and the Middle East.
Posted inFinancial Services
U.K. slashes FS rules, seeks closer EU regulation ties to boost growth
The U.K. government has announced a raft of legislation that will drastically cut compliance requirements in the financial services sector, as well as aim to bring the United Kingdom more in line with the EU to simplify customs regulations and boost trade.
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
U.K. set to make ‘senior managers’ more accountable for corporate crime
The risk of criminal liability is set to increase for companies doing business in the United Kingdom after new legislation takes effect in June.
Posted inBanking
U.K. tightens debanking rules as compliance teams in banks walk a regulatory tightrope
Closing a U.K. bank account against the wishes of the customer has just got more complicated. From April 28, banks and payment service providers must comply with new rules governing when and how they close an existing customer’s account.
Posted inAML
Most FS firms expect to miss EU AML deadline amid data and due diligence challenges
Two-thirds of financial services firms will not be able to meet the requirements of the EU anti-money laundering package when it comes into force in July 2027.
