Recently,Pope Leo XIV issued his first Papal Encyclical Letter, titled Magnifica Humanitas “On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence.” The document places AI within the long tradition of Catholic social teaching and asks how humanity should respond to the “new things” of the digital age. I wanted to review it from a compliance angle.
Top Stories
Convicted trader’s $16M case against Deutsche Bank hinges on compliance training, culture and leadership
A former Deutsche Bank trader convicted of wire fraud in the U.S. is suing the bank for $16.2 million for training him to break the rules. James Vorley, who worked in DB’s London office, claims senior managers at the bank instructed him to use a trading strategy that resulted in his prosecution.
Trump’s latest tariffs gambit puts spotlight on ‘inadequate’ forced labor laws
The risks associated with companies either conniving in or unwittingly profiting from modern slavery have garnered increased attention over recent years, but the United States’ latest attempt to hit dozens of countries with tariffs for failing to tackle the problem more seriously has pushed the issue of forced labor to the top of corporate agendas.
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.
Two clean companies, one exposed entity
Why compliance integration after a merger is a risk event, not a cost exercise.
FCA sets sights on digital payment competition as it opens investigation into PayPal, Visa, and Mastercard
The U.K. financial regulator is investigating PayPal, Visa, and Mastercard for suspected anti-competitive practices in the “funding and usage” of PayPal’s digital wallet.
ICO lists five steps to help companies protect themselves from AI cyber threats
Companies have long prioritized cybersecurity as a key risk to their operations, but AI’s ability to increase the number, speed, severity, and types of attacks has prompted the U.K.’s regulator to set out five practical steps that organizations can take to strengthen their resilience against AI-powered threats and cyberattacks.
Control failures cost U.K. financial firms over $1.35B in five years – and the compliance risks are rising
The U.K.’s financial regulator has issued over £1 billion ($1.35 billion) of fines for regulated firms’ basic internal control failures in the past five years. This accounted for more than half of the total fines issued to financial services firms in the period.
U.S. ramps up penalties to criminal level for those dealing with sanctioned Brazilian groups
Two Brazilian groups, Comando Vermelho and Primeiro Comando da Capital, will be designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations by the U.S. State Department, beginning today. Any person who knowingly engages in financial transactions with the group risks criminal liability.
Deepfakes, synthetic identities and the new era of professional misrepresentation
The most trusted organizations do not just sell products. They sell judgement, discretion and trust. That trust is now being actively tested by AI-enabled deception — at scale, and at the onboarding stage, precisely when verification decisions are made. Artificial intelligence is no longer a future risk. It is already being used to manufacture identities: […]


