UBS hit with record $125m AML penalty for lax controls
US FinCEN fined UBS $125 million—the largest penalty against a broker-dealer for Bank Secrecy Act violations—after finding UBS Financial Services failed to implement an effective AML program and to properly screen over $10 billion in foreign currency transactions from 2019–2023. The penalties, also levied by the SEC, CFTC and FINRA, label UBS a repeat offender and criticize a flawed Excel-based monitoring system that missed hundreds of alerts and weak due diligence on high-risk clients, including a Russian oligarch with ties to Putin. UBS says it has remediated its AML program and views the action as closure on a legacy matter.