FinCEN Fines UBS Unit $125 Million for Repeat AML Failures

The U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, enforces the Bank Secrecy Act, the main U.S. framework for combating money laundering and terrorist financing. UBS Financial Services Inc. (UBSFS), the Swiss bank’s U.S. broker-dealer, paid a $14.5 million penalty in December 2018 and pledged to repair transaction-monitoring weaknesses. The new case matters because it marks the largest BSA penalty ever imposed on a broker-dealer and targets a repeat offender.

On Aug. 3, 2026, FinCEN assessed UBSFS a $125 million civil penalty after finding it failed to deliver the promised overhaul. From Jan. 1, 2019, through June 30, 2023, the firm inadequately monitored more than 61,500 foreign-currency wire transfers worth over $10.5 billion and filed hundreds of suspicious activity reports late. UBSFS admitted willful BSA violations and must conduct a third-party lookback and submit its anti-money laundering program to an independent review.