UBS Financial Services must pay $125 million in a coordinated regulatory action. Four U.S. regulators imposed the penalty for willful anti-money laundering violations. The Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network led the historic enforcement. This represents the largest Bank Secrecy Act fine ever imposed on a broker-dealer.
The action stems from the firm's failure to fix deficiencies identified in a 2018 settlement. UBS failed to monitor tens of thousands of foreign currency wire transfers. These unmonitored transactions totaled more than $10 billion. The failures occurred between 2019 and 2023.
The firm also neglected due diligence on high-risk customers with ties to Russia and Latin America. UBS admitted to the violations as part of the settlement. The firm will now hire a third party to review its anti-money laundering program.