UBS Fined $153 Million for Anti-Money Laundering Violations
Three U.S. regulators—FinCEN, FINRA, and CFTC—imposed a total of $153 million in fines on UBS Financial Services due to anti-money laundering (AML) violations spanning from January 2019 through June 2023. The largest penalty came from FinCEN for willful Bank Secrecy Act violations, including inadequate monitoring of over 50,000 foreign currency wires totaling more than $10 billion and insufficient due diligence on high-risk customers linked to Russia and Latin America. This is the second major enforcement action by FinCEN against UBS since a $14.5 million fine in December 2018. The bank has been ordered to collaborate with an external third party for a review of its AML program, including identifying any previously undetected suspicious transactions. If successful, up to $15 million could be waived from the penalty. Separately, FINRA and CFTC imposed fines of $20 million and $8 million respectively, citing similar deficiencies in UBS's compliance framework.
Tickers: $UBS
Topics: banking compliance financial regulation money laundering