By PAUL O’DONOGHUE, Senior Correspondent
WISE shares have fallen sharply after reports that Belgian prosecutors are investigating the company over its AML controls.
The stock dropped as much as 20% in early morning trading after the money transfer app, which has 19 million users globally, said that it was responding to questions from a prosecutor in Brussels.
Belgian prosecutors opened an investigation last year, according to The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ). The report said authorities are examining whether Wise accounts moved proceeds linked to fraud, drug trafficking and corruption.
Investigators are reviewing transactions worth about €500m ($583 million). They are also assessing whether Wise complied with AML requirements.
The probe centres on Wise’s European operations, which the company manages from its Brussels office.
Wise said it is “currently working with the Brussels prosecutor to respond to queries about our business, as we routinely do with regulators and law-enforcement authorities”.
The company said the prosecutor’s enquiries “are still incomplete and no specific findings have been shared with us to date”.
It added: “As such, it would be speculative for us to comment on any allegations. We will continue to engage with the Brussels prosecutor’s office if and when any specific findings are made available to us.”
The company also said the information requests were not “in themselves indicative of non-compliance with anti-money laundering requirements or of any wrongdoing”.
Wise shares fall on compliance probe
The latest scrutiny follows a separate penalty against Wise’s US subsidiary in July 2025. The company paid $4.2m to settle a multi-state investigation involving six US financial regulators over compliance failures.
Those regulators identified issues in how the firm investigated and reported suspicious activity, as well as weaknesses in transaction monitoring data integrity.
Founded in 2011, Wise has grown into one of the UK’s best-known fintech firms. The company moved its primary listing to the US this year after it previously announced plans to downgrade its London listing.
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