Compliance & Ethics

OCC Announces October Enforcement Actions, Targets Governance & BSA/AML Deficiencies

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) released its list of enforcement actions for October 2025, highlighting continued regulatory focus on board oversight, corporate governance, and anti-money laundering compliance across the U.S. banking sector.

Canada’s Financial Watchdog Fines Crypto Firm Cryptomus $127 Million for AML Failures

Canada’s financial intelligence watchdog has handed down its largest-ever penalty, fining Xeltox Enterprises, the company behind the crypto platform Cryptomus, $127 million (C$176,960,190) for repeated violations of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing laws.

FCA Warns Corporate Finance Firms Falling Short on Anti-Money Laundering Controls

The UK’s financial watchdog has warned that many corporate finance firms may be falling short of anti-money laundering rules, following a new survey that revealed widespread weaknesses in financial crime controls across the sector.

UBS Fined $1 Million for Misclassifying Professional Investors Over 12 Years

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has reprimanded and fined UBS $1 million (HK$8 million) after uncovering a 12-year stretch of compliance failures tied to the bank’s misclassification of professional investors in Hong Kong. The regulator cited “deficiencies in internal systems and controls” that led to the inaccurate classification of hundreds of client accounts and improper access to restricted financial products.

EBA Shifts Its Focus from Rulemaking to Results in Push for Supervisory Consistency Across the EU

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has published its 2024 Report on Supervisory Convergence, signaling a quiet but meaningful shift in how the EU oversees its banking sector. After more than a decade of building the Single Rulebook, the focus is no longer on writing rules, it’s on making sure they work.

ESMA’s Sanctions Snapshot Shows Stable Enforcement but Rising Fines Across Europe

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has released its second consolidated report on sanctions and measures imposed across the EU’s financial markets in 2024, and while the pace of enforcement held steady, the price of wrongdoing climbed steeply.

Ofcom Fines Royal Mail £21 Million for Missing 2024/25 Delivery Targets

Ofcom has fined Royal Mail £21 million after the postal operator once again failed to meet its statutory delivery targets for First and Second Class mail during the 2024/25 financial year.