The U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced a sweeping enforcement operation in late December 2025, signaling a new chapter in how the United States will use financial intelligence to confront illicit cross-border activity in years to come. Surpassing simple compliance checks, this concerted effort represented an uptick in use of data analytics to maintain […]
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As the United States government continues to identify and target foreign threats to national security, the U.S. Treasury made a significant move to escalate its financial and economic pressure on an old foe acting across the Middle East. Iran-aligned militant group Ansarallah, commonly known as the Houthis, became the subject of new disciplinary efforts levied by […]
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On November 24, 2025, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), part of the US Department of the Treasury, imposed a $4,677,552 (£3,458,193) penalty on a real estate investor for ‘violating Russia sanctions and reporting obligations’. ‘US Person-1’ was found to have willfully dealt in property which was owned by a blocked and sanctioned individual […]
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2025 was a whirlwind for Canadian-American TD Bank Group. The multinational banking giant was mired in the largest money laundering scandal of the decade, pleading guilty to both civil and criminal charges related to U.S. Bank Secrecy Act violations and having their widespread AML deficiencies across the international spectrum in the process. The investigations analyzed […]
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In a significant shift towards potential deregulation, last week the U.S. Treasury Department under Secretary Scott Bessent issued a draft term sheet which was circulated to financial regulators across the country, proposing a potentially major overhaul of current anti-money-laundering (AML) enforcement protocols. The proposed plan leans towards the Treasury taking a more central role in […]
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In yet another escalation of the Trump Administration’s war on transnational crime, the U.S. Department of the Treasury has unleashed a fresh wave of sanctions targeting the notorious Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA). The organization, which emerged from the irreputable depths of Venezuela’s Tocorón prison in the early 2010s, has since extended the reach […]
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With the United States and many of its international allies imposing staunch sanctions on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) related to the country’s increasingly destabilizing activities (including its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and human rights abuses over the past decade), North Korea has developed into a hub for state-sponsored sanctions evasion activity […]
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In a major blow to international organized crime and sanctions evasion efforts, the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) has exposed a sophisticated Russian money laundering empire channeling billions of dollars worth of funds toward Russia’s military efforts in Ukraine. Dubbed Operation Destabilise, this ongoing international investigation has begun to reveal the sprawling yet increasingly interconnected […]
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The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) – the bureau tasked with collecting and analyzing financial information to combat domestic and international money laundering and terror financing activity – recently took decisive action against Mexico’s notorious Sinaloa Cartel, designating various transactions involving 10 Mexico-based gambling establishments tied to the group as a class of transaction of “primary money laundering concern” under Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act.
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In the high-stakes world of regulatory compliance, operational efficiency is everything. Within this space, maintaining thorough oversight and the appropriate checks-and-balances – specifically when dealing in high-value domestic and international transactions – is often the difference in avoiding costly fines and sanctions, reputational damage, and in some cases, even complete shutdowns for financial service providers […]
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