Welcome to the March 2026 summary of news you can use as your bank or other financial institution attempts to stay up to date on the world of BSA/AML compliance. Our monthly series of curated news about FinCrime regulatory developments, resources, and stories.
In this edition, two main stories emerge:
- U.S. Treasury forces shutdown of Swiss bank MBaer Merchant Bank AG for facilitating money laundering on behalf of Russian, Venezuelan, and Iranian entities
- Sophisticated transaction monitoring leads Italian authorities to seize €20m of assets tied to Swiss money laundering scheme
U.S. Treasury forces shutdown of Swiss bank MBaer Merchant Bank AG on money laundering facilitation
According to investigators at FinCEN, MBaer Merchant Bank AG progressed from laundering money on behalf of Venezuelan clients to enabling financing of the Russian war machine and helped channel Iranian oil funds back to the regime and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
FinCEN stated, “MBaer has also provided access to the US financial system to persons providing material support to Iran-related money laundering and terrorist financing efforts, including support to Iranian foreign terrorist organizations.”
The officials accused MBaer of facilitating payments in connection with an international oil smuggling and money laundering scheme conducted by the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guard. The US considers the Quds Force, which operates outside the country, as a foreign terrorist organization.
Read more here:
How a Dirty Money Trail From Venezuela to Iran Brought Down a Swiss Bank – SWI swissinfo.ch
Sophisticated transaction monitoring leads Italian authorities to seize €20m of assets tied to Swiss money laundering scheme
On March 26, 2026, Italian authorities seized €20m of assets in Tuscany, including property, vineyards and olive groves, allegedly bought with money embezzled from the actor Ursula Andress.
Critical to the successful discovery and seizure of the assets was in-depth analysis of a labyrinth of transactions made by the criminal embezzlers and their transaction counterparties. Moving across national boundaries, the Swiss embezzlers leveraged front companies and other vehicles to use stolen monies to purchase legitimate property and art in the Tuscany region of Italy.
The case underscores how organizations (in this case, Italian government authorities) benefit greatly from the ability to quickly and comprehensively perform both transaction monitoring (TM) and transaction analysis. By analyzing a number of transactions, Italian authorities uncovered a layering scheme designed to obfuscate the origins of the embezzled funds.
Read more here:
Authorities in Italy Seize 20 Million Euros in Major Swiss Money Laundering Case – Fincrime Central
Visit the WorkFusion Resources page or request a demo to learn about the best solutions for automating your AML/CFT compliance operations.