U.S. to Designate Venezuelan Government as Terror Group, Blockade Sanctioned Oil Tankers
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday vowed to designate Venezuela’s government a “Foreign Terrorist Organization” (FTO) and ordered a “total and complete” blockade of sanctioned oil tankers moving into and out of the country.
UK to Investigate Role of Cryptocurrency in Political Bribes
The UK government will examine the role of cryptocurrency donations in politics as part of a wider review of party-financing rules triggered by a bribery case involving a Reform UK politician, Bloomberg reported.
U.S. Threatens Fiji Aid Over Human Trafficking by Doomsday Cult
The U.S. government is threatening to downgrade Fiji to the lowest tier in its global human trafficking rankings unless authorities take “decisive action” against a religious group linked to human trafficking and transnational organized crime, OCCRP reported.
How Russia’s ‘Shadow Fleet’ Keeps the Oil Flowing
A Russian “shadow fleet” tanker sanctioned by the UK, EU and U.S. continued transporting oil in late 2025, underscoring what an investigation by Follow the Money describes as the limited impact Western measures have had on the cash flow Moscow earns from crude exports.
In Fiscal 2025, IRS-CI Saw Sharp Rise in Tax Fraud and Other Financial Crimes
The Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI) division identified $10.6 billion in tax and other financial crimes in the federal fiscal year ending September 30, a rise of nearly 16% from the prior year.
FCA Hits Nationwide with £44mn Fine for Failing to Flag Suspect Payments
Nationwide Building Society has been hit with a £44-million fine by the UK’s financial regulator over longstanding weaknesses in its systems to detect and prevent financial crime, including failures that allowed tens of millions of pounds in fraudulent Covid furlough payments to pass through a customer’s account.
OCC Grants Five Virtual-Asset Firms Initial Approval to Launch Trust Banks
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has conditionally approved five national trust bank charters for firms focused on digital assets, in a move that brings more crypto-related activity into the federal banking system but under supervisory constraints.
U.S. Treasury Seeks ‘Gatekeeper’ Role Over AML Penalties
The Trump administration is moving to give the U.S. Treasury Department’s financial intelligence unit a decisive say over how banks are punished for anti–money-laundering (AML) failures, according to new reporting by The Wall Street Journal.
OCC Says Nine Banks Improperly Imposed Risk Controls on ‘Controversial’ Clients
Nine of the largest U.S. lenders made “inappropriate distinctions” among customers in politically sensitive sectors, including by applying enhanced risk controls in response to negative media reports, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) said.
U.S. Targets Alleged Financial Network Tied to Colombian Mercenaries in Sudan
The United States has imposed sanctions on four individuals and four companies it says helped recruit, pay and deploy Colombian mercenaries to fight for Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF).