Compliance & Ethics

The financial landscape is shifting fast. While digital banking services and cryptocurrencies bring innovation, they also open the door to new risks that criminals are quick to exploit. As we enter 2025, the Swedish financial watchdog is focusing its efforts on addressing these emerging threats. From money laundering to terrorist financing and sanctions evasion, financial firms face growing pressure to safeguard the system from exploitation.

At the TechUK Tech Policy Conference today, Sarah Cardell, Chief Executive of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), shared a vision for a more dynamic, responsive, and competitive regulatory landscape in the digital markets. She emphasized the CMA’s role in shaping the future of the UK’s tech ecosystem, signaling a new phase of regulation that will hold Big Tech accountable while encouraging growth and investment.

FINRA has recently settled with Redbridge Securities LLC and Network 1 Financial Securities Inc. over notable compliance shortcomings in their operations. Both firms have been fined for deficiencies in their anti-money laundering (AML) programs, customer identification procedures, and supervisory systems. While the penalties are substantial, they reflect the importance of maintaining strong regulatory frameworks within financial institutions.

Robinhood Financial is facing some tough consequences for its failure to meet critical regulatory standards. In an action that marks a significant moment for the fintech giant, FINRA has ordered the company to pay $3.75 million in restitution to impacted customers. Additionally, Robinhood Financial and Robinhood Securities have been hit with a combined $26 million in fines for a series of missteps related to anti-money laundering (AML) practices, trade execution flaws, and other serious compliance issues.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) unveiled charges against investment advisory firm Momentum Advisors LLC, along with two of its former top figures, Allan J. Boomer and Tiffany L. Hawkins. The charges stem from the pair’s misuse of company and client assets—a breach of the trust that is meant to define fiduciary duty in the investment world.

In an open letter addressed to the European Commission, a coalition of challengers in the search engine and browser markets, alongside civil society organizations and consumer advocates, is calling for action over Google's alleged non-compliance with the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The letter, sent to Executive Vice-President Teresa Ribera Rodríguez and Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen, seeks the Commission's intervention to ensure that Google adheres to its obligations under the DMA—specifically, provisions intended to promote competition, improve consumer choice, and ensure a more balanced digital landscape.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has thrown open the doors to a crucial consultation that could significantly shape the EU's anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CFT) landscape. Today, it launched a public consultation on four draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS), which are set to be key pieces in the European Union's evolving AML/CFT framework. These standards are not just regulatory technicalities—they will directly influence how financial institutions and supervisors tackle money laundering and terrorist financing across Europe.