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Financial Crime, US

NEWS: Number of FinCEN staff cut by 11% over last year

Premium January 15, 2026

FinCen's head office in Vienna, Virginia

LATEST: US and Mexico host new group of 16 FIUs fighting international gangs

INSIGHT: Expect a drop in the ‘check-the-box’ approach to AML in 2026

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NEWS: Swedish finance watchdog warns money laundering causes ‘billions’ of losses in Africa

By PAUL O’DONOGHUE, Senior Correspondent

THE Trump administration has cut 11% of the workers at FinCEN, the AML unit of the U.S. Treasury, over the last year.

Figures published by the New York Times show that 244 people were employed by the agency as of November 2025. This was down from 275 compared to the same month in 2024.

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LATEST: US and Mexico host new group of 16 FIUs fighting international gangs

INSIGHT: Expect a drop in the ‘check-the-box’ approach to AML in 2026

 Premium

NEWS: Swedish finance watchdog warns money laundering causes ‘billions’ of losses in Africa

Regulatory Watch News

  • UK Lowers Oil Price Cap on Seaborne Russian Crude Oil

    OFSI

    Today, the UK, alongside the EU, has announced that the Oil Price Cap on seaborne Russian Crude Oil will be lowered from $47.60 to $44.10 per barrel. The lowered Oil Price Cap of $44.10 per barrel comes into effect at 23:01 (GMT), Saturday, 31 January 2026. 

    This action will maintain regulatory alignment in targeting Russian revenues and is part of the UK’s ongoing commitment to supporting Ukraine in its struggle against Russia’s illegal war of aggression. 

    This will apply to all services captured by the Oil Price Cap, including maritime transportation and the provision, directly, or indirectly, of brokering services or financial services or funds, related to the maritime transport of Russian crude from a place in Russia to third countries or from one third country to another.  

  • SFO announces investigation in social housing sector

    Serious Fraud Office

    The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has today conducted a major operation involving raids and arrests, as it announces a new bribery and fraud investigation into the past management of Home REIT, a listed UK social housing company. The suspected offending has an estimated value of £300 million. SFO investigators carried out searches and made arrests at homes in Altrincham, Maidenhead and London – a commercial site in Manchester has also been searched. Assistance was provided by the National Crime Agency.

  • Europol has identified AI powered fraud as a key problem area
    Europol signs Working Arrangement with the Argentine Republic

    Europol

    In December, the Ministry of National Security of the Argentine Republic and the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) signed a Working Arrangement in order to support the Member States of the European Union and Argentina in preventing and combating serious and organised crime and terrorism. The Working Arrangement provides for a structured legal framework for cooperation and enhanced exchange of information (non-personal data) between Europol and the relevant Argentinian law enforcement authorities. It will enable both partners to closely work together on key areas such as organised crime, drug trafficking, trafficking in human beings, cybercrime and environmental crime.

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