Who was sanctioned, and for what?

Following a 2023 inspection, the supervisor found inadequate customer due diligence and inadequate enhanced and ongoing due diligence in sampled files, no ongoing training for sampled employees and gaps in the risk management and compliance programme, such as name and payment screening manuals that had not been approved by management before being implemented, and inadequately documented arrangements for terrorist property reporting and financial sanctions. Five cautions and penalties of 28 million ZAR were imposed, of which 5.5 million ZAR is suspended for 36 months from 13 October 2025; the bank had already been sanctioned with 56.25 million ZAR in December 2024. The amount and the facts have not been confirmed against the primary source.

Authority / court

Prudential Authority (PA) der South African Reserve Bank

Area of law

Money laundering and terrorist financing · Customer due diligence

Legal basis

Sections 21, 21A und 21C i. V. m. 42(1), 42(2)(d), (e), (g) sowie Sections 42 und 43 Financial Intelligence Centre Act 38 of 2001

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Financial services and insurance

Repeat case

yes

Mitigating circumstances

Cooperation in remedying the deficiencies; 5.5 million ZAR suspended for 36 months.

Published

11 Sep 2026

Original amount 28,000,000 ZAR, converted at the ECB reference rate of 11 Sep 2026.

Checked against the official source on 4 Oct 2026 · Direct link

At the payment institution, the customer risk assessment had only been introduced after business had started, some customers remained unassessed, and customer profiles were based on transaction thresholds rather than on risk. The Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) set a fine of 266,833 EUR and a follow-up directive; under a settlement, the fine was reduced by 40% to 160,099 EUR.

Authority / court

Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU)

Area of law

Money laundering and terrorist financing · Customer due diligence

Legal basis

Reg. 2(1), 5(5)(a)(ii), 7(1)(c), 7(2)(a), 21, 22 PMLFTR

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

final

Sector

Financial services and insurance

Mitigating circumstances

Settlement with 40% reduction; remediation demonstrated

Published

2 Sep 2026

Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link

The Banque nationale de Belgique (National Bank of Belgium) found serious anti-money laundering due diligence failures at Wise Europe SA, including in identifying and verifying customers and beneficial owners, ongoing monitoring of business relationships, analysis of atypical transactions and intra-group information sharing. It made public that Wise Europe had not complied with an order of 8 July 2025 to meet these obligations by 31 March 2026, and ordered full compliance by 31 January 2027 at the latest; no fine was published.

Authority / court

Banque nationale de Belgique / Nationale Bank van België (BNB/NBB)

Area of law

Money laundering and terrorist financing · Customer due diligence

Legal basis

Art. 13 § 1, 23, 26, 27, 35 § 1 und 45 Gesetz vom 18. September 2017 zur Verhinderung von Geldwäsche; Anordnung nach Art. 93 § 1 1°, Veröffentlichung nach Art. 93 § 2 1° und Art. 98/1 i. V. m. 135 § 3

Action

Order

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Financial services and insurance

Repeat case

yes

Published

25 Aug 2026

Checked against the official source on 2 Oct 2026 · Direct link

The Finanzmarktaufsicht (FMA, Liechtenstein Financial Market Authority) fined an unnamed legal person CHF 50,000 for breaches of the Sorgfaltspflichtgesetz (Due Diligence Act) – business profiles not established or updated as required, group-wide application of the due diligence standard not ensured – and of the Gesetz über die Durchsetzung internationaler Sanktionen (ISG, Act on the Enforcement of International Sanctions). The ISG provision relied on makes it an offence punishable by a fine not to carry out the sanctions screening of customer and transaction documents, or to carry it out improperly or late.

Authority / court

Finanzmarktaufsicht Liechtenstein (FMA)

Area of law

Money laundering and terrorist financing · Customer due diligence

Legal basis

Art. 31 Abs. 1 Bst. e und k Sorgfaltspflichtgesetz (SPG); Art. 11 Abs. 1a Bst. c Gesetz über die Durchsetzung internationaler Sanktionen (ISG)

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

final

Sector

Financial services and insurance

Original amount 50,000 CHF, converted at the ECB reference rate of 21 Aug 2026.

Checked against the official source on 28 Sep 2026 · Direct link

The Comitê de Decisão de Processo Administrativo Sancionador (COPAS, sanctions decision committee) of the Banco Central do Brasil (Brazilian central bank) fined Banco Genial S.A. a total of BRL 21,560,000.00: BRL 4,200,000.00 for inadequate anti-money laundering policies, procedures and controls, BRL 8,920,000.00 for failing to verify the credentials of foreign exchange clients and BRL 8,440,000.00 for failing to file suspicious activity reports with the financial intelligence unit Coaf in the proper form and on time. According to the case documents, the reporting charge concerned 1,364 foreign exchange transactions for the acquisition of virtual assets with five clients between November 2020 and October 2021, totalling USD 744,341,982.45.

Authority / court

Banco Central do Brasil (Comitê de Decisão de Processo Administrativo Sancionador – COPAS)

Area of law

Money laundering and terrorist financing · Customer due diligence

Legal basis

Lei nº 9.613/1998, Art. 10 III, Art. 11 und 12; Lei nº 13.506/2017; Circular BCB nº 3.978/2020; Resolução CMN nº 3.568/2008

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Financial services and insurance

Liability of senior managers

Measures against individuals are not set out here.

Original amount 21,560,000 BRL, converted at the ECB reference rate of 12 Aug 2026.

Checked against the official source on 3 Oct 2026 · Direct link

Finanstilsynet (Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authority) fined the accounting firm Panzer Norge AS, based in Alta, NOK 100,000 under the Anti-Money Laundering Act. The inspection found shortcomings in the firm-wide risk assessment and in customer due diligence, as well as further breaches in risk and quality management and in engagement agreements; the company, which had five employees, essentially did not dispute the breaches.

Authority / court

Finanstilsynet

Area of law

Money laundering and terrorist financing · Customer due diligence

Legal basis

§§ 7, 8, 9, 12 Abs. 4, 13 Abs. 1, 3 und 4, 14, 24 und 49 hvitvaskingsloven

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Other

Employees

Under 50

Culpability

negligent

Published

17 Sep 2026

Original amount 100,000 NOK, converted at the ECB reference rate of 11 Aug 2026.

Checked against the official source on 28 Sep 2026 · Direct link

Despite a cease-and-desist notice and enforcement action of 2 January 2025, the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA, Dubai's virtual assets regulator) found that Shelbit General Trading L.L.C (Shelbit Exchange) continued to provide virtual asset services in and from Dubai without a licence, onboarded users without the mandatory KYC checks and promoted its services without authorisation. VARA again imposed fines of an undisclosed amount and ordered it to cease immediately; according to the regulator, the risk identified also concerned cross-border transactions with possible consequences for the integrity of the UAE financial system.

Authority / court

Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), Dubai

Area of law

Money laundering and terrorist financing · Customer due diligence

Legal basis

Federal Decree-Law No. (10) of 2025 (AML/CFT/PF); Cabinet Resolution No. (111) of 2022; Dubai Law No. (4) of 2022 Regulating Virtual Assets in the Emirate of Dubai; VARA Regulations and Rulebooks

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Financial services and insurance

Repeat case

yes

Published

24 Jul 2026

Checked against the official source on 3 Oct 2026 · Direct link

The 2022 examination revealed that for more than two years the remote gaming operator had had no proper customer risk assessment for almost its entire player base; the assessments submitted had been prepared specifically for the examination. In addition, once players reached the deposit threshold of 2,000 EUR, it did not check in good time whether they were politically exposed persons. The Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) imposed 80,907 EUR; the fine was still open to appeal at the time of publication.

Authority / court

Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU)

Area of law

Money laundering and terrorist financing · Customer due diligence

Legal basis

Reg. 5(5)(a)(ii), 11(5), 21 PMLFTR; FIAU Implementing Procedures Part I und II (Remote Gaming)

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Other

Published

16 Jul 2026

Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link

Germany's Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) imposed fines totalling 210,000 EUR on the cooperative bank: business relationships were not monitored on an ongoing basis or with enhanced scrutiny, additional information was not obtained and suspicious activity reports were not filed or were filed late. The function of the money laundering reporting officer had been outsourced to an external service provider with several clients.

Authority / court

Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (BaFin)

Area of law

Money laundering and terrorist financing · Customer due diligence

Legal basis

§ 56 Abs. 1 S. 1 Nr. 20, 36, 38 und 69 GwG; Bekanntmachung nach § 57 GwG

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

final

Sector

Financial services and insurance

Published

17 Sep 2026

Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link

Following an on-site inspection from February to April 2025, the Bank of Italy (Banca d'Italia) found deficiencies in customer due diligence, active cooperation (suspicious transaction reporting) and anti-money laundering controls, and imposed an administrative fine of 40,000 EUR. The duration of the deficiencies and the corrective measures initiated were taken into account.

Authority / court

Banca d'Italia

Area of law

Money laundering and terrorist financing · Customer due diligence

Legal basis

Art. 62 d.lgs. 231/2007; Verstöße gegen Art. 7, 16–19, 24, 25, 35, 36 d.lgs. 231/2007

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Financial services and insurance

Mitigating circumstances

Corrective measures initiated

Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) issued a public censure because the London branch opened and operated accounts for the wealth manager WealthTek, although its own register searches showed that it lacked permissions to hold client assets, and overlooked a restriction noted in the register; 16 monitoring alerts were not worked through over two years, and more than £314 million flowed through the accounts. In view of cooperation and a voluntary payment of £31.7 million to WealthTek clients, the FCA refrained from imposing a fine (otherwise £23.1 million after discount).

Authority / court

Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)

Area of law

Money laundering and terrorist financing · Customer due diligence

Legal basis

Section 205 FSMA (Public Censure) wegen Verstoßes gegen FCA Principle 2; Maßstab u. a. SYSC 6.1.1R, 6.3.1R, 6.3.3R und Regulations 18, 27, 28 MLR 2017

Action

Reprimand or warning

Status of proceedings

final

Sector

Financial services and insurance

Mitigating circumstances

Cooperation, acknowledgement of the deficiencies and a voluntary payment of £31,714,068 to those harmed

Published

25 Jun 2026

Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link

For the period April 2022 to May 2023, the Swedish financial supervisory authority Finansinspektionen (FI) found that the bank’s general risk assessment did not realistically assess the terrorist financing risks of its corporate products and that no enhanced due diligence measures were taken for high-risk corporate customers. FI issued a remark and imposed 140 million SEK; the bank has brought an action before the administrative court.

Authority / court

Finansinspektionen (FI)

Area of law

Money laundering and terrorist financing · Customer due diligence

Legal basis

Penningtvättslagen (2017:630)

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

under appeal

Sector

Financial services and insurance

Published

17 Jun 2026

Original amount 140,000,000 SEK, converted at the ECB reference rate of 17 Jun 2026.

Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link

According to investigations by the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA, Dubai's virtual assets regulator), MX Global Ltd, which trades under the MEXC brand, provided broker-dealer and/or exchange services to customers in Dubai without a licence from 2022 to April 2026 and onboarded users without the KYC checks required by law. VARA imposed fines of an undisclosed amount and ordered the immediate cessation of all unlicensed activities in or from Dubai; other group companies were expressly not affected.

Authority / court

Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), Dubai

Area of law

Money laundering and terrorist financing · Customer due diligence

Legal basis

Federal Decree-Law No. (10) of 2025 (AML/CFT/PF); Dubai Law No. (4) of 2022 Regulating Virtual Assets in the Emirate of Dubai; Cabinet Resolution No. 111/2022; VARA Regulations and Rulebooks

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Financial services and insurance

Mitigating circumstances

Full cooperation, compliance with the cease-and-desist orders and a stated intention to apply for a VARA licence.

Published

22 Jun 2026

Checked against the official source on 3 Oct 2026 · Direct link

According to FINTRAC, Caisse populaire Alliance limitée is a provincially regulated credit union based in North Bay, Ontario. Canada's anti-money laundering regulator FINTRAC imposed an administrative monetary penalty of CAD 82,500 on the company on 5 June 2026. According to FINTRAC's findings, made during a compliance examination, the company committed 4 violations of the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA) and its regulations. As described by the regulator, the violations concerned written compliance policies and procedures, enhanced measures for high-risk situations, assessing and documenting money laundering and terrorist financing risks and the prescribed review of the compliance programme. Specifically, according to FINTRAC, 46 of 118 high-risk clients were not reviewed annually, contrary to the credit union's own policies. According to FINTRAC, the penalty has been paid in full and the case is closed. Source: FINTRAC (Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada), "Administrative monetary penalty on Caisse populaire Alliance limitée", published 24 September 2026, https://fintrac-canafe.canada.ca/pen/amps/pen-2026-09-24-1-eng; summarised in our own words; not an official version and not a reproduction of the original.

Authority / court

Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC)

Area of law

Money laundering and terrorist financing · Customer due diligence

Legal basis

PCMLTFA s. 9.6(1), 9.6(3); PCMLTF Regulations 156(1)(b), 156(1)(c), 156(1)(f), 156(2), 156(3), 157; Verwaltungsgeldbuße nach Teil 4.1 PCMLTFA

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

final

Sector

Financial services and insurance

Published

24 Sep 2026

Original amount 82,500 CAD, converted at the ECB reference rate of 5 Jun 2026.

Checked against the official source on 28 Sep 2026 · Version 3 · Direct link

The Česká národní banka (ČNB, Czech National Bank) fined Československá obchodní banka 30,000,000 CZK under the Czech anti-money laundering act. For customers internally rated as high-risk, including a credit institution, the bank did not adequately examine the purpose and background of transactions such as 58 cash withdrawals and did not fully screen ownership and management structures against sanctions lists. It also lacked effective internal procedures for ongoing customer due diligence and for enhanced due diligence on transactions involving high-risk third countries; for 8,414 legal entities with complex structures, the whole structure was not screened for sanctions.

Authority / court

Česká národní banka (ČNB)

Area of law

Money laundering and terrorist financing · Customer due diligence

Legal basis

§ 9 Abs. 1 lit. c, § 9a Abs. 1, § 21 Abs. 1, § 44 Abs. 1 lit. b und Abs. 3 lit. d, § 48 Abs. 1 Zákon č. 253/2008 Sb. (AML-Gesetz)

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

final

Sector

Financial services and insurance

Original amount 30,000,000 CZK, converted at the ECB reference rate of 6 May 2026.

Checked against the official source on 28 Sep 2026 · Direct link

Malta's Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) imposed 225,730 EUR, a penalty payment of 2,000 EUR per day and a follow-up directive on the licensed gambling operator, which works through a network of independently operated betting shops in an EU member state. The company was unable to link customers' cumulative deposits across different shops and only checked customers from a single deposit of 2,000 EUR upwards, so the threshold could be circumvented. The company has appealed.

Authority / court

Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU)

Area of law

Money laundering and terrorist financing · Customer due diligence

Legal basis

Regulation 21 PMLFTR; Verstöße gegen Regulations 5(5)(a)(ii), 7, 9(1) PMLFTR und FIAU Implementing Procedures

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

under appeal

Sector

Other

Published

16 Apr 2026

Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link

The KoFIU (Korea Financial Intelligence Unit) found that the crypto exchange Bithumb had processed 45,772 transfers of crypto assets with 18 virtual asset service providers that had not complied with their reporting obligation between August 2022 and April 2025, and had breached customer identification duties and the associated transaction restrictions in large numbers; there were also shortcomings in suspicious transaction reporting, record keeping and the risk assessment of new products. On 17 March 2026 it ordered a six-month partial suspension of business (no transfers of crypto assets for new customers from 27 March to 26 September 2026) and imposed a fine of KRW 36,873.5 million. The amount and the facts have not been confirmed against the primary source.

Authority / court

Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (KoFIU)

Area of law

Money laundering and terrorist financing · Customer due diligence

Legal basis

Art. 4, 5, 5-2, 5-4 und 8 Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information; Art. 9, 10-6, 10-9 und 10-20 Durchführungsverordnung (Teilsperre wegen Art. 8 i. V. m. Art. 10-20 DVO: Geschäfte mit nicht gemeldeten Anbietern)

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Financial services and insurance

Liability of senior managers

Measures against individuals are not set out here.

Published

17 Mar 2026

Original amount 36,873,500,000 KRW, converted at the ECB reference rate of 17 Mar 2026.

Checked against the official source on 4 Oct 2026 · Direct link

Hakrinbank N.V., Finabank N.V. and De Surinaamsche Bank N.V. concluded transactions (out-of-court settlements) with the Openbaar Ministerie (OM, Dutch Public Prosecution Service) over suspected negligent money laundering (schuldwitwassen) in 2018 and are paying a total of 415,000 EUR (Hakrinbank 166,000 EUR, Finabank and De Surinaamsche Bank 124,500 EUR each). The trigger was the seizure at Schiphol Airport in April 2018 of 19.5 million EUR in cash belonging to the three banks and bound for Hong Kong; the OM accused them of not having adequately checked the origin of the cash in Suriname, in particular who the customers of the bureaux de change among their clients were. The OM found no intent; it took into account the age of the case and the lesser seriousness of negligent money laundering, and the seized money will be returned.

Authority / court

Openbaar Ministerie (OM), Arrondissementsparket Noord-Holland

Area of law

Money laundering and terrorist financing · Customer due diligence

Legal basis

Schuldwitwassen (fahrlässige Geldwäsche nach niederländischem Strafrecht); Transaktion des OM

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

final

Sector

Financial services and insurance

Culpability

negligent

Mitigating circumstances

No intent established; age of the case; the banks have since implemented improvements in cash controls, KYC and governance.

Published

17 Mar 2026

Checked against the official source on 2 Oct 2026 · Direct link

The US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) imposed 80 million USD on the broker-dealer, which admitted wilful BSA infringements: no effective AML programme, no due diligence on correspondent accounts of foreign financial institutions and failure to file suspicious activity reports in connection with securities fraud. Remedial measures that had been promised were not implemented for years.

Authority / court

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)

Area of law

Money laundering and terrorist financing · Customer due diligence

Legal basis

Bank Secrecy Act (BSA)

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

final

Sector

Financial services and insurance

Culpability

intentional

Published

6 Mar 2026

Original amount 80,000,000 USD, converted at the ECB reference rate of 6 Mar 2026.

Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link

According to FINTRAC, VersaBank is a bank based in London, Ontario. Canada's anti-money laundering regulator FINTRAC imposed an administrative monetary penalty of CAD 42,075 on the company on 23 February 2026. According to FINTRAC's findings, the company committed 2 violations of the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA) and its regulations. As described by the regulator, the violations concerned written compliance policies and procedures and enhanced measures for high-risk situations. Specifically, according to FINTRAC, the bank failed in at least seven instances to correctly identify elevated or high-risk clients and apply enhanced due diligence. According to FINTRAC, the penalty has been paid in full and the case is closed. Source: FINTRAC (Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada), "Administrative monetary penalty on VersaBank", published 5 May 2026, https://fintrac-canafe.canada.ca/pen/amps/pen-2026-05-05-eng; summarised in our own words; not an official version and not a reproduction of the original.

Authority / court

Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC)

Area of law

Money laundering and terrorist financing · Customer due diligence

Legal basis

PCMLTFA s. 9.6(1), 9.6(3); PCMLTF Regulations 156(1)(b), 157; Verwaltungsgeldbuße nach Teil 4.1 PCMLTFA

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

final

Sector

Financial services and insurance

Published

5 May 2026

Original amount 42,075 CAD, converted at the ECB reference rate of 23 Feb 2026.

Checked against the official source on 28 Sep 2026 · Version 3 · Direct link