The value of regulatory fines levied against global financial institutions surged dramatically in the first half of 2025, rising 417% compared to the same period in 2024, according to new figures from Fenergo.
The provider of AI-powered solutions for know your customer (KYC), transaction monitoring, and client lifecycle management (CLM) revealed that regulators worldwide issued 139 penalties totalling $1.23bn in the first six months of the year, up from $238.6m across 118 fines during the same period last year.
The report found that financial institutions across EMEA, North America, and Asia Pacific faced mounting scrutiny over violations involving anti-money laundering (AML), KYC, sanctions, suspicious activity reports (SARs), and transaction monitoring. North America saw the most dramatic increase, with fines exceeding $1.06bn – a 565% surge compared to H1 2024.
Some of the most severe penalties were imposed on cryptocurrency exchanges. The US Department of Justice fined OKX more than $504m after it pled guilty to failing to maintain an effective AML programme, while BitMEX was hit with over $100m in fines for similar violations. These cases highlight a growing regulatory focus on the digital assets sector, where authorities have stepped up enforcement actions against firms deemed non-compliant.
In EMEA, regulators issued $168.2m worth of fines, marking a 147% increase from $68m in H1 2024. By contrast, penalties across APAC fell sharply, dropping from $10.7m in H1 2024 to just $3.4m this year.
The report also found a striking rise in sanctions-related penalties. In H1 2024, fines for sanctions compliance failures amounted to only $3.7m, but this skyrocketed to $228.8m in H1 2025 as geopolitical tensions intensified regulatory demands.
Fenergo head of financial crime policy Rory Doyle said, “These figures offer a stark warning to financial institutions across the globe – particularly those operating in the fast-growing digital assets sector, where watchdogs won’t hesitate to dole out hefty fines for AML shortcomings. The findings also reflect a global trend of increased regulatory scrutiny around sanctions compliance, as geopolitical tensions and evolving sanctions regimes place greater pressure on firms to bolster their systems and processes.
“The importance of integrating smarter financial crime technology with AI to increase accuracy and strengthen due diligence processes cannot be overstated in this context – especially as firms continue to grapple with more complex markets and a shortage of skilled financial crime professionals.”
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