Month: February 2026

Action against EUR 306 million money laundering network

Money Laundering
Following investigations into a criminal group suspected of laundering at least EUR 306 million of illicit profits from drug trafficking and other crimes, 13 people have been arrested in France and Romania. Investigations coordinated through a joint investigation team at Eurojust revealed that the group had been operating in France and Romania between 2018 and 2024. Consisting of dozens of members operating from Romania and France, the criminal group is suspected of having laundered illicit profits from crimes such as drug trafficking. They set up a sophisticated international operation involving multiple legal entities in France, which they took over and…

Europe’s anti-money laundering body set to be fully operational in 2028

Money Laundering, Regulation
BRUSSELS, Feb 4 (Reuters) – The European Union’s new agency formed to fight dirty money said on Wednesday it was on track to be fully operational in 2028, as it set out its plan to tackle emerging illicit finance risks including crypto and “novel payment channels”.The Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) is being established in Frankfurt, creating the first Europe-wide body to fight illegal financial flows.Make sense of the latest ESG trends affecting companies and governments with the Reuters Sustainable Switch newsletter. Sign up here.From 2028, AMLA will directly supervise 40 EU financial institutions judged to present the biggest risk. AMLA…

8 African economies facing heightened global scrutiny over money laundering controls in February 2026

Money Laundering
Eight African countries are under ‘increased monitoring’ by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), known as the grey list.Grey listing does not impose sanctions but signals to global financial institutions that enhanced scrutiny is required.Each grey-listed country, including Algeria, Angola, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, DRC, Kenya, Namibia, and South Sudan, is undertaking specific reforms to strengthen regulatory frameworks.For emerging African economies, exiting the grey list is seen as a significant milestone signaling stronger regulation. When it places a country under increased monitoring, it means the jurisdiction has identified strategic weaknesses in its financial crime prevention systems and has formally committed to…

MONEYVAL calls on Guernsey to step up efforts against money laundering

Money Laundering
The Council of Europe’s anti-money laundering body, MONEYVAL, has published a report urging Guernsey to improve the investigation, prosecution and conviction of money laundering offences whilst also highlighting Guernsey’s good understanding of the risks of money laundering/terrorist financing and its highly effective application of targeted financial sanctions. The report commended Guernsey’s Financial Intelligence Unit for producing high-quality analytical products and strategic analysis, while acknowledging the limited extent to which they are used by law enforcement authorities to initiate investigations. The quality of suspicious activity reports also remains a concern. Guernsey is expected to report back to MONEYVAL, under MONEYVAL’s regular…

Reporter’s Notebook: How to Investigate Shadow Fleets

Sanctions
In the world of maritime trade, some ships play a dangerous game of hide-and-seek. They rapidly change flags, shift ownership, and even cut their tracking systems mid-voyage. These “dark fleet” tactics are often employed by vessels involved in nefarious activities such as sanctions evasion, arms trafficking or illegal fishing. At first sight, the trail of such ships can appear hard to follow. Yet the evidence is often still there, scattered across open sources. With perseverance, it can be possible to uncover more information about who is behind these shadowy vessels. As an example, we’ll walk you through some of the…

Cash rules everything in the age of money laundering

Money Laundering
For years, investigative journalists have salivated over that old heuristic “follow the money”. Deep Throat’s instruction to Robert Redford’s Bob Woodward in All the President’s Men, delivered in a shadowy car park, has become the North Star for uncovering financial crime and corruption. In his alarming new book, Everybody Loves Our Dollars, Oliver Bullough makes a compelling case that we’ve been looking in the wrong direction. To truly understand the global money-laundering industry, he argues, you need to think a lot bigger. Criminals today have sophisticated ways of making money disappear, “like a wizard in the Harry Potter books” –…

Understanding the hidden links between human trafficking and corruption

Corruption, Human Trafficking
Around the world, traffickers rely on public officials and private actors who collude, accept bribes or simply look the other way. This hidden alliance allows organized crime to flourish, victims to remain trapped and justice to be obstructed.To understand how these two crimes are connected, we uncover the hidden role corruption plays in enabling human trafficking: What is the link between corruption and human trafficking? Human trafficking involves the exploitation of people through forced labour, sexual exploitation, organ removal, or coerced criminality. Corruption enables traffickers to operate at scale, providing them with documents, protection and silence. Without corruption, trafficking networks…

US Bars Palau Senate Leader Over Alleged China Ties

Bribery
The U.S. barred the president of Palau’s Senate from entering the country over allegations he accepted bribes to promote the interests of China’s government and criminal figures. The U.S. State Department has barred the president of Palau’s Senate from traveling to the United States over allegations that he accepted bribes to advance the interests of China’s government and Chinese criminal figures, according to a department statement. The travel ban announced Tuesday targets Hokkons Baules, the president of Palau’s Senate, and Anderson Jibas, a former mayor from Marshall Islands. “Baules abused his public position by accepting bribes in exchange for providing…

Korea’s Financial Intelligence Unit Sets 2026 Anti-Money Laundering Priorities

Money Laundering
Key Takeaways Freezing Criminal Funds, Faster: KoFIU wants the authority to freeze accounts tied to serious livelihood crimes without waiting for court orders, aiming to cut off criminal proceeds before they disappear.Cross-Border Crime Moves to Center Stage: International criminal groups would be added to prohibited transaction lists, alongside deeper coordination with foreign counterparts and FATF-led initiatives.Crypto Oversight Tightens Again: The travel rule would extend to lower-value transactions, with closer scrutiny of transfers involving personal wallets and overseas exchanges.AML Accountability Shifts Upward: Financial institutions would need to place clear AML responsibility on a senior executive, backed by mandatory evaluations and clearer…

Chinese Crypto Scam Fugitive With St. Kitts Passport Owns Dubai Property

Money Laundering, Regulation
Daren Li, who has fled a 20-year sentence for for his alleged role in stealing and laundering $73 million in Cambodia-based cryptocurrency scams, rents out a villa in Dubai Daren Li, a Chinese and Saint Kitts and Nevis national on the run from a 20-year United States prison sentence for his role in a large Cambodia-based cryptocurrency scam operation owns property in Dubai, real estate records show. Tenancy contract data shows that under his Saint Kitts passport, Li owns a five bedroom residential villa in Wadi Al Safa 7, a gated community in Dubai’s suburbs. As of last year, this…

AMLA Lays Out Its 2026–2028 Game Plan as Europe’s New AML Regulator Moves Toward Full Operations

Regulation
Key Takeaways AMLA Moves From Setup to Delivery: The 2026–2028 Single Programming Document marks AMLA’s transition from institutional build-out to operational supervision at EU level.Three Pillars Will Shape EU AML Oversight: AMLA’s priorities center on completing the Single Rulebook, driving supervisory convergence, and strengthening cooperation among Financial Intelligence Units.2026 Is the Inflection Point: The Authority will focus on turning mandates into practice through direct supervision, FIU framework implementation, and the foundations for indirect oversight.Early Signals for the Market: By prioritising clarity on areas such as customer due diligence and supervisory consistency, the SPD gives firms advance notice of where expectations…

Corruption Threatens Democracies Worldwide, Transparency International Warns

Corruption
Transparency International’s 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index shows a world where democratic institutions are weakening, civic space is shrinking, and corruption is rising—from Europe and the Americas to Asia, Africa, and the Pacific. Nepal’s Post-Uprising Election: Anti-Corruption Promises Vs Public SkepticismNepal is heading to polls on March 5 to democratically replace its government toppled by “Gen Z” protests six months ago. Every major political party is promising specific ways to end corruption, but the voters are questioning what they will deliver.Corruption is surging worldwide, threatening public trust, enabling organized crime, and weakening democratic institutions, Transparency International warned Tuesday in its 2025…

As AMLA Takes Shape, ECB Signals a New Era of Coordinated Financial Crime Supervision

Regulation
Key Takeaways AMLA Centralizes AML Supervision: The new EU authority will reduce national fragmentation and assume direct oversight of higher-risk institutions from 2028.Financial Crime Is a Prudential Risk: Weak AML controls can expose banks to governance, operational, legal and reputational risks that threaten safety and soundness.ECB and AMLA Formalize Cooperation: A 2025 Memorandum of Understanding sets the framework for information exchange, policy coordination and supervisory alignment.Digitalization Raises Both Risk and Opportunity: Cyber-enabled fraud and crypto-asset activity heighten exposure, while artificial intelligence offers enhanced detection tools.Implementation Is the Next Test: The effectiveness of Europe’s new AML architecture will depend on coordinated,…