The FCA money mule review published on 23 September 2026, “Money mules: mule activity and cashing out findings”, reports that the 35 retail banks, building societies, challenger banks, payment institutions (PIs) and e-money institutions (EMIs) it surveyed offboarded 238,396 suspected money mules in 2025, up from 184,935 in 2023 and 233,269 in 2024. Its sharper…
On 23 July 2026 the Council adopted the EU’s 21st sanctions package. The package-wide headline was 218 listings: 48 individuals and 170 entities. The Russia asset-freeze additions were made by Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1843, which added 48 persons and 168 entities to Annex I of Regulation (EU) No 269/2014 and entered into force on…
On 9 September 2026 the Financial Action Task Force published Risks of Gaming and Gambling, a Methods and Trends report drawn from contributions by more than 80 jurisdictions, industry associations and researchers, and it arrived with a set of new red-flag indicators written for compliance teams. For anyone running anti-money laundering controls inside a casino,…
FINMA published two updated sanctions notifications on 11 August 2026, one for Sudan and one for South Sudan, after the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER/WBF) amended Annex 2 of each ordinance. For a Swiss supervised institution, the FINMA notifications are an operational alert that the relevant Annex 2 lists changed. The…
On 7 August 2026 the FCA published a statement confirming that it is applying increased scrutiny to Annex 1 firms, including unregulated lenders, safe custody providers, money brokers and financial leasing companies registered with it for anti-money laundering purposes. Alongside the statement, the regulator said it had sent an information request to around 900 Annex…
Canada’s anti-money laundering regime draws one line for correspondent banking that leaves no room for a risk-based judgment call. Under subsection 9.4(2) of the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act, no person or entity may have a correspondent banking relationship with a shell bank. FINTRAC’s correspondent banking guidance explains the pre-entry, record-keeping…
On 26 June 2026 the Financial Action Task Force published a report on terrorist financing through social media, instant messaging applications and streaming platforms, and it lands with an uncomfortable number attached. Fewer than 30% of jurisdictions contributing to the FATF report said that this risk was covered in their national risk assessments. That national-level…
On 1 July 2026 the United Kingdom took over the two-year Presidency of the Financial Action Task Force and used its first day to launch the FATF 2026-2028 Roadmap on Combatting Fraud. The launch event, opened by the incoming FATF President Giles Thomson and supported by Executive Secretary Violaine Clerc, set fraud as one of…
On 17 July 2026 the Council of the European Union adopted Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1779, which amends Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 269/2014 and adds six new designations to the EU list of persons and entities subject to an asset freeze over the situation in Ukraine. The measure entered into force on the…
On 15 July 2026 the Wolfsberg Group published its Guidance on the Provision of Banking Services to non-bank Payment Service Providers, and it lands on a problem most financial crime teams already know by feel: the bank holds the account, but it is several parties removed from the person actually sending the money. The new…