Six British lending firms have had their business activities restricted after the Financial Conduct Authority raised concerns about their anti-money laundering controls, with one company required to wind down its existing loan book and five others ordered to undergo independent reviews.
American Express devoted more attention to the money laundering risks of its deposit accounts than to those of its much larger credit and charge card business. Over the past decade, approximately $13 billion in suspected trade-based money laundering activity went without timely identification, evaluation and sufficient reporting, according to federal regulators.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) finalized regulations governing payment stablecoin issuers on October 21, setting federal standards for reserves, redemption, risk management, and supervision ahead of the GENIUS Act's January 2027 effective date.
At its worst in 2024, the shortfall in Coinbase Ireland's customer safeguarding account reached €5.2 million. The company was required to keep enough money in the account to cover its obligations to customers. For at least 18 months, it fell short every day.
A compliance task can be marked complete while its evidence remains difficult to explain. The change ticket lives in one system, the approval in a message, and a screenshot on someone's laptop. When another person asks what happened, the team has to reconstruct the story.
Australia's corporate regulator secured approximately $579 million (A$830 million) in court-ordered civil penalties during the 2025–26 financial year, with major cases involving ANZ and derivatives trading misconduct accounting for much of the total. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) also helped secure more than $405 million (A$580 million) in repayments and refunds for consumers and investors, according to its annual report released October 19.
From a $315 million opioid settlement in the United States to cybersecurity penalties in Australia and export-control violations involving China, enforcement records reveal how corporate safeguards can deteriorate long before regulators intervene. An examination of selected cases finds recurring weaknesses in management oversight, internal reporting, specialist expertise and the authority to act on known risks.
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