The US Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network on Monday imposed a USD 125,000,000 civil money penalty on UBS Financial Services Inc. over willful violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, describing the action in its news release as a historic enforcement measure against the Swiss bank's US broker-dealer subsidiary.
The consent order, numbered 2026-02 and detailed in a filing published on FinCEN's website, cited failures to maintain an adequate anti-money-laundering programme and to file suspicious activity reports during a conduct period running from January 2019 through June 2023.
SCALE OF UNMONITORED ACTIVITY
During the conduct period, more than 61,500 foreign currency wires totalling more than USD 10.5 billion were inadequately monitored, according to the consent order. FinCEN said that, despite assuring it after a 2018 consent order that it would remediate the underlying issues, UBS Financial Services did not do so and did not disclose the failings to FinCEN.
The USD 125 million total will be paid in stages. USD 62 million is payable to the US Treasury within 10 days of the order's effective date, according to the consent order, while USD 15 million is due by 31 May 2028, all or part of which FinCEN may waive once UBS completes an independent review of its AML programme and implements its recommendations. A further USD 48 million of the total is credited against parallel payments made by UBS Financial Services to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
FinCEN thanked the CFTC, the SEC and FINRA for their cooperation on the matter.
SECOND FINCEN ACTION AGAINST FIRM
The order marks the second FinCEN action against UBS Financial Services Inc., FinCEN noted. FinCEN previously assessed a USD 14.5 million civil money penalty against the firm in December 2018 for BSA violations, and FinCEN Director Andrea Gacki said the "historic action" should "send a clear message that recidivist financial institutions will face severe repercussions".
The consent order specifically cites failures to maintain an adequate anti-money-laundering programme and to file the suspicious activity reports required under the Bank Secrecy Act. FinCEN said the penalty is the largest ever imposed against a broker-dealer for BSA violations.
The full text of the consent order was published on FinCEN's website alongside the news release, providing the detailed factual and legal underpinnings of the resolution. UBS Financial Services Inc. is the US broker-dealer subsidiary of the Swiss banking group UBS, and the action applies to that entity rather than to the wider group.
The consent order requires UBS Financial Services to work with a third party on a lookback to identify and report suspicious transactions that went undetected, and to undergo an independent review of its AML programme.
The staged payment structure, with USD 62 million due within 10 days, USD 15 million due by 31 May 2028 and USD 48 million offset against parallel agency payments, is set out in the consent order.