Top stories this week:
Bank of Ireland UK Fined £3.7m After Missing Fraud Safeguard Deadline | FinCEN Eases Repeat Beneficial Ownership Checks for Banks
Welcome to this week's edition of the KYC Roundup, your gateway to the most impactful developments in the world of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and financial crime. In the AML arena, Bank of Ireland UK is fined £3.7m after missing a fraud safeguard deadline, and FinCEN eases repeat beneficial ownership checks for banks.
In the fast-paced world of sanctions, the EU lists Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organisation.
In the corruption space, Ukraine’s ex-energy minister is detained as part of a high-profile corruption case.
We round off this week’s roundup with the opportunity to register for our latest webinar, “Nationwide AML Failures - What Went Wrong?”
KYC & AML
Bank of Ireland UK fined £3.7m after missing fraud safeguard deadline
Bank of Ireland UK has been fined £3,779,300 by the Payments Systems Regulator (PSR) after implementing Confirmation of Payee checks 14 months late. The PSR said the safeguard was not applied to payments involving more than 1.14 million new payees, totalling around £6.9 billion.
FinCEN eases repeat beneficial ownership checks for banks
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has issued an exceptive relief order that removes the requirement for covered financial institutions to identify and verify beneficial owners every time a legal-entity customer opens a new account.
Latvia shows progress in latest MONEYVAL report
MONEYVAL states Latvia has substantially transformed its financial system and risk landscape since 2018 and shows a strong understanding of ML/TF risks. It also highlights areas needing further work, including supervision of certain non-financial sectors.
Kuwait and Papua New Guinea added to FATF grey list
The FATF has placed Kuwait and Papua New Guinea under increased monitoring, citing strategic AML/CFT deficiencies.
FinCEN opens whistleblower tip channel for financial crime leads
FinCEN has launched a dedicated webpage to confidentially receive whistleblower tips on fraud, money laundering and sanctions violations.
France opens Epstein-linked probes into trafficking and financial crime
French prosecutors have opened investigations linked to Jeffrey Epstein covering human trafficking and financial crime offences, including money laundering and tax fraud, after reviewing newly released material.
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Sanctions
EU lists Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as terrorist organisation
The EU Council has formally added the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to the EU terrorist list. The listing triggers counterterrorism restrictive measures, including asset freezes and a ban on making funds or economic resources available to the group.
Corruption
Ukraine ex-energy minister detained in corruption case
Former Energy Minister German Galushchenko has been detained while attempting to leave the country in connection with a long-running corruption case related to the energy sector.
KYC360 News
Webinar: Nationwide AML Failures - What Went Wrong?
Join Shilo Grayson, Regulatory Strategy Specialist, at KYC360, for a focused examination of the key AML failings in the Nationwide £44M fine.
You'll learn:
- Why Nationwide’s ongoing CDD and customer risk assessment controls failed to keep customer risk current
- How business activity flowing through personal current accounts created a material blind spot
- Where transaction monitoring design and timeliness failed to support early intervention
- How fragmented controls can cause obvious signals to be missed
📅 Date: 26th February 2026
🕒 Time: 3:00 - 4:00 pm (UK Time)
Your latest weekly update from the worlds of money laundering, legislation and regulation, sustainability, gaming and gambling, crypto and sanctions.
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