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The Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) has introduced a new Financial Crime Compliance Strategy for 2026, setting out a more risk-focused and outcomes-driven approach to combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other forms of financial crime across Malta's financial services sector. The strategy is intended to strengthen supervisory effectiveness while preparing regulated businesses for major changes to the European Union's anti-money laundering framework an

Prosecutors in Curaçao have asked the court to acquit a businessman of money laundering charges in the long-running Avior investigation, concluding that although significant suspicions remain, the evidence gathered during the decade-long investigation is insufficient to secure a criminal conviction. The development marks a notable turn in one of the Caribbean's most prominent financial crime cases, highlighting the challenges prosecutors face in complex cross-border money lau

RBC Capital Markets has agreed to pay a US$275,000 fine and accept a formal censure after the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) found that the firm's anti-money laundering (AML) monitoring programme failed to adequately detect and escalate suspicious transactions for more than seven years. The enforcement action underscores regulators' continued focus on ensuring that financial institutions maintain effective transaction monitoring systems capable of identifying

UBS Financial Services has agreed to pay a record US$125 million to resolve coordinated enforcement actions brought by four U.S. regulators over longstanding anti-money laundering (AML) failures, marking the largest civil penalty ever imposed on a broker-dealer for violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). The action was jointly taken by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority

Portugal officially entered a new era of political transparency on Monday as the country's first lobbying transparency legislation came into force, introducing a public register for interest representatives and imposing new disclosure obligations for interactions with public authorities. The reform represents a significant milestone in Portugal's broader effort to make political influence more transparent, arriving at a time when public debate over integrity, access to decisi

UK authorities have frozen approximately £30 million worth of luxury London real estate linked to a businessman under investigation in Singapore's largest-ever money laundering case, underscoring the increasingly international nature of financial crime enforcement and cross-border asset recovery. The action reflects growing cooperation between law enforcement agencies seeking to identify and restrain assets suspected of representing the proceeds of illicit activity. The freez

A Utah man has been sentenced to nine years in federal prison after playing a leading role in a large-scale cheque fraud and money laundering conspiracy that caused more than US$1.7 million in losses to financial institutions and government programmes. The sentence marks the conclusion of a complex federal case involving stolen mail, fraudulent bank transactions and the laundering of criminal proceeds through multiple financial accounts. According to court documents, the cons

Singapore authorities have charged a 23-year-old foreign resident under the country's terrorism financing laws after alleging that he transferred money to support an overseas terrorist act connected to Gaza. The case represents one of the latest examples of authorities pursuing even relatively small cross-border financial transfers where investigators believe the funds were intended to facilitate terrorism. According to court documents, the accused allegedly sent US$72.28 thr

Senior financial regulators from the European Union and the United States have reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening cross-border cooperation on anti-money laundering, financial stability and emerging financial sector risks following the latest EU–US Joint Financial Regulatory Forum held in Brussels. The two-day forum brought together representatives from the European Commission, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and a broad range of financial supervisory authorities

The United States has imposed a new round of counterterrorism sanctions targeting individuals and entities accused of facilitating financial support for Hamas through a network allegedly linked to the Muslim Brotherhood. The measures, announced by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), are intended to disrupt fundraising operations, charitable front organisations and financial intermediaries that U.S. authorities allege have channelled

The European Union's new Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) has taken another significant step towards assuming direct supervisory responsibilities by publishing detailed reporting guidance designed to identify financial institutions that could fall under its direct oversight from 2028. The initiative forms part of the authority's broader implementation of the EU's new anti-money laundering framework and represents a key milestone in the transition from nationally led sup

FIFA has confirmed that no evidence of suspicious betting or match manipulation was identified during the 2026 FIFA World Cup after completing an extensive integrity monitoring program covering every match played throughout the tournament. Following the conclusion of the competition, the organization's Integrity Task Force determined that all 104 fixtures were conducted without any indication of betting-related corruption or match-fixing, reinforcing confidence in the integri

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has warned that significant regulatory gaps in the oversight of decentralised finance (DeFi) platforms are creating opportunities for money launderers, cybercriminals and sanctioned actors to exploit blockchain-based financial services. In a newly published targeted report, the international standard setter outlines how many jurisdictions have yet to identify DeFi arrangements that fall within existing anti-money laundering (AML) and cou

The 7th Targeted Update on Implementation of the FATF Standards on Virtual Assets and Virtual Asset Service Providers highlights how the rapid integration of digital assets into the international financial system has progressed much faster than the development of coordinated regulatory and supervisory frameworks. Although international standard-setting organizations have introduced comprehensive benchmarks governing the supervision of virtual assets and virtual asset service

Two alleged leaders of a Chinese money laundering organization are facing potential prison sentences of up to 20 years following federal charges tied to an extensive investment fraud operation. Prosecutors have unsealed an indictment accusing the defendants of directing a sophisticated laundering network that allegedly processed more than $43 million in funds stolen from fraud victims. According to the charges, the organization operated between 2020 and 2022 across multiple l

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is calling for a comprehensive overhaul of regulatory frameworks as large technology companies continue expanding into areas traditionally dominated by banks, warning that stronger supervision is needed to safeguard global financial stability. While the IMF believes the current impact on the financial system remains limited, it cautions that the rapid growth of these companies across payment services, lending, insurance, and asset managem

The United States has launched one of its most extensive sanctions actions against Iran's maritime trade infrastructure by blocking all property and interests in property belonging to more than 50 individuals, companies, and vessels connected to the sprawling shipping network controlled by Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani. The enforcement action is designed to dismantle the financial and logistical architecture that has enabled illicit Iranian oil exports while supporting activitie

Italy's financial intelligence framework reached an unprecedented milestone during the first six months of 2026, reflecting a sharp expansion in anti-money laundering oversight as authorities respond to increasingly sophisticated financial crime risks. According to the latest statistical analysis released by the Banca d'Italia's Unità di Informazione Finanziaria (UIF), the country registered the highest number of suspicious transaction reports ever received during a single si

United States authorities have unveiled a far-reaching sanctions action involving the blocking of hundreds of millions of dollars in assets connected to an extensive network of Iranian currency exchange businesses and offshore front companies. The enforcement effort targets individuals and organizations accused of orchestrating sophisticated financial structures that enabled the Iranian government and its military-linked entities to circumvent international anti-money launder

A detailed evaluation by MONEYVAL has identified meaningful administrative improvements in Armenia’s anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism regime while also pointing to persistent structural shortcomings that continue to undermine the effectiveness of financial crime investigations. According to the assessment, national authorities possess a reasonable understanding of the country's principal financial crime risks, yet operational weaknesses continue to lim