Congress Repeals ‘Caesar’ Sanctions in Shift Toward Post-Assad Syria
U.S. lawmakers have voted to repeal the 2019 Caesar Civilian Protection Act, ending a far-reaching sanctions regime that broadly targeted any entity providing goods or services to Syria’s government, the Financial Times reported.
U.S. to Designate Venezuelan Government as Terror Group, Blockade Sanctioned Oil Tankers
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday vowed to designate Venezuela’s government a “Foreign Terrorist Organization” (FTO) and ordered a “total and complete” blockade of sanctioned oil tankers moving into and out of the country.
UK to Investigate Role of Cryptocurrency in Political Bribes
The UK government will examine the role of cryptocurrency donations in politics as part of a wider review of party-financing rules triggered by a bribery case involving a Reform UK politician, Bloomberg reported.
U.S. Threatens Fiji Aid Over Human Trafficking by Doomsday Cult
The U.S. government is threatening to downgrade Fiji to the lowest tier in its global human trafficking rankings unless authorities take “decisive action” against a religious group linked to human trafficking and transnational organized crime, OCCRP reported.
PayPal Files Application to Launch a Bank
PayPal has applied to form a bank that would offer business loans and interest-bearing savings accounts, a move that would deepen the payments company’s push into core banking services, The Wall Street Journal reported.
How Russia’s ‘Shadow Fleet’ Keeps the Oil Flowing
A Russian “shadow fleet” tanker sanctioned by the UK, EU and U.S. continued transporting oil in late 2025, underscoring what an investigation by Follow the Money describes as the limited impact Western measures have had on the cash flow Moscow earns from crude exports.
In Fiscal 2025, IRS-CI Saw Sharp Rise in Tax Fraud and Other Financial Crimes
The Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI) division identified $10.6 billion in tax and other financial crimes in the federal fiscal year ending September 30, a rise of nearly 16% from the prior year.
Nationwide Hit with £44mn Fine for Failing to Flag Suspect Payments
Nationwide Building Society has been hit with a £44-million fine by the UK’s financial regulator over longstanding weaknesses in its systems to detect and prevent financial crime, including failures that allowed tens of millions of pounds in fraudulent Covid furlough payments to pass through a customer’s account.
OCC Grants Five Virtual-Asset Firms Initial Approval to Launch Trust Banks
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has conditionally approved five national trust bank charters for firms focused on digital assets, in a move that brings more crypto-related activity into the federal banking system but under supervisory constraints.
Treasury Seeks ‘Gatekeeper’ Role in AML Penalties
The Trump administration is moving to give the U.S. Treasury Department’s financial intelligence unit a decisive say over how banks are punished for anti–money-laundering (AML) failures, according to new reporting by The Wall Street Journal.