The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) has imposed a financial penalty of AED 200 million on the UAE branch of an unnamed foreign bank following significant and repeated failures in its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT), governance, compliance management and sanctions frameworks. In an important aspect of the enforcement action, the regulator also imposed separate financial penalties on the branch’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and

The US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has issued two new warnings to financial institutions concerning suspicious cross-border payments involving money services businesses (MSBs) and the exploitation of charitable and non-profit organisations for illicit purposes. The measures, announced on 30 October 2026, highlight vulnerabilities involving third-party payment arrangements, opaque fund flows and the diversion of donations and public funds. In its first public

Panama has been removed from the European Union’s list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes, marking a significant milestone in the country’s efforts to improve financial transparency and restore its international reputation a decade after the Panama Papers exposed widespread offshore secrecy. The decision, announced by EU finance ministers in October 2026, recognizes changes to Panama’s tax regulations, corporate reporting requirements and oversight mechanisms

Shares in major UK gambling operators Entain, Rank Group and Evoke climbed sharply on Wednesday after Chancellor John Healey confirmed that Machine Games Duty (MGD) would rise from 20% to 25%, a smaller increase than the 40% rate that had been feared by parts of the industry. The announcement, delivered as part of the government’s Autumn Budget, triggered a positive reaction across the London Stock Exchange, despite the additional tax burden facing companies already grappli