Trusted intelligence on regulation, enforcement, AML, sanctions, and financial crime — for compliance professionals, regulators, and financial institutions.
MAS tightens custody segregation rules and clarifies cross-border passporting expectations for DPT service providers.
Largest South African crypto enforcement action to date underscores supervisor's appetite for penalties.
First post-Tornado prosecution applying a novel money-transmission theory to coin-join service operators.
Dubai regulator emphasises cross-border counterparty diligence as the next compliance frontier.
Parliament endorses dual-supervisor model dividing oversight between markets and payments.
Regulators signal limited tolerance for 'best-effort' interpretations of MiCA Title V passport scope.
Multilateral operation traces fraud proceeds through OTC desks in three jurisdictions.
The consequence first. The regulation second. Written for boards, compliance officers, and the institutions that have to act on Monday morning.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) issued revised guidance for Digital Payment Token (DPT) service providers, tightening client-asset segregation, governance, and the treatment of overseas activities conducted from Singapore.
Licensed firms have until 1 October 2026 to evidence segregated custody at the wallet level, independent reconciliation, and board-attested governance over cross-border activity. Passporting of Singapore-licensed activity into other jurisdictions will now require pre-notification.
Winners: well-capitalised custodians and bank-affiliated platforms that already operate segregated cold storage. Losers: lean exchanges that commingled client and house assets to subsidise spreads — that model is now uneconomic in Singapore.
Compliance teams should expect MAS thematic inspections within 90 days of the deadline, with particular focus on attestations, sub-custodian chains, and the treatment of staked assets.
South Africa's Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) issued a R62 million administrative penalty against Joburg Digital (Pty) Ltd for operating as a Crypto Asset Service Provider without a licence — the largest such penalty in the country to date.
The action covers an 18-month window after the FSCA's October 2022 declaration of crypto assets as a financial product, and includes director-level debarment orders.
Winners: the 138 firms that obtained CASP licences in the 2024–25 window now operate in a materially less competitive grey market. Losers: any platform still serving South African residents without a licence — the FSCA has signalled this is the first of a sequence.
Compliance teams at multinational exchanges should audit their South Africa marketing, payment rails, and local representative arrangements immediately. 'Reverse solicitation' defences are unlikely to hold.
United States prosecutors unsealed an 11-count indictment naming three operators of the Nimbus Mixer Network on charges including unlicensed money transmission, conspiracy to launder, and sanctions evasion, alleging USD 340 million in obfuscated flows.
The theory of liability extends post-Tornado: prosecutors argue that operating a privacy protocol with knowledge of illicit use, even without custody, constitutes money transmission under 18 U.S.C. § 1960.
Winners: forensic analytics vendors and compliant privacy-preserving protocols that bake in screening at the contract layer. Losers: any privacy service whose business model depends on operator anonymity from US persons.
Compliance teams at exchanges should re-screen historical deposit flows against the named contract addresses and prepare to file additional SARs covering the 2023–2026 window.
Country-level intelligence and regulatory readiness across African markets.
Global regulatory developments, licensing frameworks, and supervisory guidance.
Case studies, typologies, investigations, sanctions, and enforcement trends.
Securities Commission of The Bahamas (SCB)
Digital Assets and Registered Exchanges (DARE) Act 2024.
Financial Transactions Reporting Act; FATF-aligned CDD for DARE registrants.
Implemented — DARE 2024 brings Travel Rule into primary legislation.
No income, capital gains or VAT on digital assets at present.
Mandatory disclosures, custody segregation, and proof-of-reserves for registered exchanges.
1:1 reserve, monthly attestations, redemption SLAs.