Oversight Agency | Certain Risk

Photo of the European Commission's headquarters in Brussels.

European Commission Raided by Police Over Real-Estate Irregularities

Belgian police raided European Commission offices in Brussels on Thursday as part of an investigation into potential irregularities in the sale of EU real estate assets.

A photo of the Federal Reserve's Michelle Bowman seated at a table during a meeting

Fed to Drop Some Supervisory Warnings in Oversight Revamp

The Federal Reserve has told banks it plans to review and potentially drop some outstanding confidential supervisory warnings, as Vice Chair Michelle Bowman pushes to refocus oversight on near-term threats to lenders’ financial condition.

DOJ building entrance, Washington, DC — G. Edward Johnson, “DOJ entrance Washington DC 2025-02-07 13-27-05.jpg” (7 Feb 2025), Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Edited from the original (changes made).

Paxful to Pay $4 Million for Helping Sex Traffickers and Money Launderers

Paxful Holdings Inc., a peer-to-peer virtual currency trading platform, was sentenced on Tuesday to pay a $4-million criminal penalty after pleading guilty to conspiracies tied to illegal prostitution, anti-money-laundering failures and transmitting criminal proceeds.

Image showing a strong presence of Russia's Wagner Group, a state-funded private military company, in Eastern Europe, particularly in Belarus. — “PMC wagner in belarus 3.png” (20 July 2023), by Информационное агентство БелТА (BelTA Information Agency), via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0). No changes made.Source (file page): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PMC_wagner_in_belarus_3.png License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Bipartisan Bill Would Make Russian Mercenaries Foreign Terrorists

A bipartisan coalition of U.S. House lawmakers has introduced legislation that would order the State Department to add Russian mercenary groups to its list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs).

Photo of a woman walking out of the Berlaymont building at the European Commission in Brussels — Attribution (TASL): “Entrée Commission Européenne Berlaymont” by Nicolas Richoffer (18 May 2009), licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons.

EU May Ban Crypto Payments Tied to Russia, Restrict Exports for Kyrgyzstan

The European Commission has proposed a blanket ban on cryptocurrency transactions linked to Russia and new trade restrictions on Kyrgyzstan in an effort to close loopholes used by Moscow to fund its war in Ukraine.

A photo of Barclays HQ in New York City. — Attribution (TASL): “Barclays - NYC Headquarters (48105882878)” by Ajay Suresh (20 June 2019), adapted by you, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0), via Wikimedia Commons.

HSBC and Barclays Face $12bn Lawsuit Linked to Epstein and Jersey Trust

HSBC and Barclays are facing a $12-billion civil lawsuit involving a now-defunct Jersey trust that has been linked in proposed U.S. legislation to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, The Times reported.

Man sitting on a exposed girder holding the flag of Hizbollah — “The flag of Hizbollah” by Harout Arabian, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY 2.0

U.S. Targets Hezbollah Ties to Gold Exchange and Financiers

The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on a Lebanon-based gold exchange company and a network of individuals behind a procurement and commodities shipping scheme purportedly tied to Hezbollah.

Photo of nodding donkey oil well to illustrate Petroleum production in Barinas, Venezuela — Attribution (TASL): “Balancín Petrolero” by Carlos Santos (ECSantos), 18 April 2014, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution–ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0), via Wikimedia Commons.

OFAC Lets U.S. Firms Supply Equipment and Tech for Venezuela Oil

The Trump administration on Tuesday authorized U.S. companies to supply Venezuela with equipment, technology, and other support for oil and gas production, issuing a new general license that expands what American firms can do in the country’s energy sector.

Morgan Stanley signage on exterior of entryway. — Alex Proimos, “Morgan Stanley Headquarters” (July 5, 2011), via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Morgan_Stanley_Headquarters_(5903796680).jpg, licensed under CC BY 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/. Adapted from the original (changes made).

Two Wall Street Firms Continued to Work with Russian Oligarch Despite Sanctions

Two Wall Street firms continued to manage a trust held on behalf of Suleiman Kerimov even after the Russian oligarch was blacklisted under U.S. sanctions in 2018, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

“Senator Amy Klobuchar speaking to journalists at the Heartland Forum in Storm Lake, Iowa” (uploaded March 31, 2019) by Lorie Shaull — used under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 (CC BY 2.0). This image has been modified (edited from the original).

Bill Would Take on Criminals Seeking to Circumvent AML Laws

Two U.S. senators reintroduced a bipartisan bill that would subject informal-value transfers and blank checks to anti-financial crime laws and strengthen the hand of prosecutors pursuing money-laundering charges.