A US federal judge has ordered HSBC Holdings Plc and Standard Chartered Plc to submit records amid allegations they processed payments linked to an Iranian money laundering scheme. The case, filed in the Southern District of New York, involves unwitting facilitation by the British banks of transactions tied to sanctioned Iranian entities. Court documents highlight a $5.7 million payment involving the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), breaching US, EU, and UK sanctions. Thi

Hack Overview The hackers executed the largest cryptocurrency theft of 2026, targeting Kelp DAO, a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol, and stealing approximately $300 million in digital assets. This breach, reported on April 21, 2026, by Bloomberg and blockchain security firm Cyvers, outpaces prior incidents in scale and speed, highlighting persistent vulnerabilities in DeFi platforms. Immediately after the exploit, the attackers consolidated funds into controlled wallets,

On March 15, 2025, airport police at Ministro Pistarini International Airport (Ezeiza) in Buenos Aires detained the suspect, identified only as “DZ” in reports, upon his arrival from Paris. Authorities flagged irregularities in his travel documents, where he posed as a naturalized Paraguayan citizen using a fake passport. An Interpol red notice linked him to money laundering and fraud charges from a Nigerian court. The suspect remains in federal custody pending extradition pr

WASHINGTON—Since President Trump resumed office, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s (FinCEN) Rapid Response Program (RRP) has facilitated the interdiction of over $268 million in stolen funds on behalf of U.S. victims, bringing the total to more than $1.8 billion since the program’s inception. The RRP is a partnership between FinCEN, U.S. law enforcement, and foreign partners, working together to help cyber-enabled fraud victims and their financial institutions recove

Sapia has agreed to make a voluntary payment of £19,637,950 to WealthTek clients and the FCA has censured the firm. Sapia began working with WealthTek in 2013 and later appointed it as one of its appointed representatives. This resulted in Sapia holding and being responsible for protecting client money resulting from WealthTek’s activities. The FCA found Sapia did not put enough safeguards in place to protect this money. Sapia has admitted that it failed to properly separate

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has reached an agreement with PricewaterhouseCoopers Hong Kong (PwC HK) under which PwC HK has agreed to set aside HK$1 billion to compensate eligible independent minority shareholders of China Evergrande Group (China Evergrande) (Note 1). PwC HK audited China Evergrande’s financial statements for the fiscal years ended 31 December 2019 and 31 December 2020 (FY2019 and FY2020 respectively). The SFC’s investigation, which focused on

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) today launched a new regulatory framework to pilot the secondary trading of tokenised SFC-authorised investment products (tokenised products) in Hong Kong, aiming to boost trading activity in the city’s expanding digital asset ecosystem over time. Set out in a circular, the SFC’s new guidance aims primarily to facilitate secondary trading of tokenised SFC-authorised open-ended funds on SFC-licensed virtual asset trading platforms (V

The US Treasury Department has issued stark warnings to banks in the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, China, and Oman for facilitating Iran’s sanctions circumvention via financial transfers, urging asset freezes and enhanced compliance. In response, Iran reportedly advises its citizens to use banks in Spain, Russia, China, and Turkey amid escalating geopolitical tensions. U.S. Treasury Issues Urgent Sanctions Warning The United States Department of the Treasury has delivered

The Central Bank of Libya has issued a warning over the continued failure to adopt the draft law on combating money laundering, saying the delay could expose the financial system to growing risks and weaken efforts to fight illicit finance. The bank discussed the issue during a meeting focused on the dangers created by the absence of an updated legal framework, according to reporting from local media. The warning reflects a broader concern that gaps in AML legislation can lea