Top Stories

Remittance Tax

Treasury, IRS provide penalty relief for remittance transfer providers

[Press Release] - Oct 7, 2025 - IRS.gov - The Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service today issued guidance providing deposit penalty relief for the first three quarters of 2026 to...

Also See:

Notice 2025-55 - Relief from Penalty for Failure to Deposit Remittance...

Oct 7, 2025 - IRS.gov 

Trump’s remittance tax hits the ‘vulnerable’

[Opinion] - Oct 6, 2025 - Oman Observer.com - US President Donald Trump seems intent on filling America’s coffers at the expense of other countries and the world’s most vulnerable people. In addition to...

State Matters - Virtual Currencies 

NY Regulator Issues Updated Guidance for Virtual Currency Custodians

[Ongoing Story] - Oct 6, 2025 - WSGR.com - Recognizing the growing demand for virtual currency custodial services and the increased use of sub-custodial relationships in the digital asset space, the New...

Also See:

Updated Guidance on Custodial Structures for Customer Protection...

Sep 30, 2025 - DFS.NY.gov

Treasury

Treasury Department Announces New Appointment

[Press Release] - Oct 7, 2025 - Home.Treasury.gov - Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent announced today a key appointment for a senior position at the U.S. Department of the Treasury...

MSBA Member Article

Viamericas: Building Rails for Global Financial Inclusion

Oct 2025 - Linkedin.com - Viamericas isn't chasing headlines, it is moving volume. More than $9 billion annually in remittances. Over 2 million active customers. Thirty-six percent year-over-year transaction...

Anti-Corruption Around the World

Morocco Signs Strategic Anti-Corruption Partnership with Security...

Oct 7, 2025 - Morocco World News.com - Morocco’s National Authority for Probity, Prevention, and Fight against Corruption (INPPLC) signed on Tuesday an institutional partnership agreement...

Botswana: Is Duma Boko’s anti‑corruption campaign delivering?

Oct 7, 2025 - The Africa Report.com - When President Duma Boko was elected in October 2024 on the back of promises to fight corruption, graft had become so endemic in Botswana that not even the...

US report flags pervasive corruption in Philippines

Oct 8, 2025 - Philstar.com - Corruption is a pervasive and long-standing problem in both the public and private sectors in the Philippines, according to the US State Department’s latest annual investment...

Australia

A new era for Australia’s AML/CTF Laws

Oct 2025 - Pexa.com.au - Australia’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) regime is undergoing its most significant transformation since the original legislation came into...

CFPB

A Welcome New Rule Would Limit the CFPB’s Power

Oct 7, 2025 - City-Journal.org - The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has been quiet since the early days of the second Trump presidency, when the administration stopped work at the agency...

US Government shutdown impacts American consumers significantly...

[Opinion] - Oct 7, 2025 - Consumer Connect ng.com - The ongoing Federal Government’s shutdown in the United States (US) now threatens housing, food safety, and consumer protections, impacting...

Company Announcements

UK fintech SendOva launches digital remittance service for Nigeria

Oct 7, 2025 - Guardian.ng - UK-headquartered fintech startup SendOva has officially launched its digital remittance platform, focusing initially on the high-volume UK–Nigeria corridor. The platform...

Fasset Wins Malaysian License to Launch Stablecoin-Powered Islamic...

Oct 7, 2025 - The News Crypto.com - Dubai-based fintech company Fasset has acquired regulatory clearance from Malaysia’s Labuan Financial Services Authority to establish a digital banking service...

OpenFX launches support for Colombian peso on its cross-border...

Oct 7, 2025 - FX News Group.com - OpenFX, an FX infrastructure company modernizing the way money moves around the world, today announced it has launched support for the Colombian peso (COP)...

Verto launches in UAE to streamline cross-border payments to Africa

Oct 7, 2025 - Yahoo.com - Verto has launched its platform in the UAE to boost B2B cross-border payments, with a focus on emerging African markets, according to a company press release published in...

Financial Inclusion Around the World

The Importance of Financial Inclusion

[Opinion] - Oct 7, 2025 - BBN Times.com - The FDIC defines an individual as “unbanked” if no one in the household has a checking or savings account with a bank or credit union. … Among those with a...

Nigeria: Our reforms stimulating investments, trade balances, financial...

Oct 7, 2025 - Vanguardngr.com - The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Tuesday said that its ongoing reforms and improved policy initiatives are steadily stimulating economic growth, enhancing trade...

Fines, Crimes & Cases

Indian regulator issues notices to 25 offshore ‘crypto’ platforms

Oct 7, 2025 - Coingeek.com - India’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), the federal government agency responsible for preventing money laundering and terrorist financing, has issued notices for...

Dubai Regulator Fines 19 Crypto Firms for Unlicensed Operations

Oct 7, 2025 - Live Bitcoin News.com - Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority acted decisively. The authority fined 19 crypto firms for unlicensed operations. This aggressive step is a critical regulatory...

Fintech Around the World

European fintechs score win over Big Tech with new EU data rules

[Subscription Required] - Oct 2025 - Sifted.eu - European fintechs are poised to benefit from a new set of EU data regulations, which experts say will likely exclude Big Tech companies from participating...

Canada prepares for open banking

Oct 6, 2025 - Retail Banker International.com - Last autumn, the Canadian government announced plans for legislation to introduce and regulate open banking but, with the recent political turmoil...

India’s fintech GCCs evolving into global innovation hubs

Oct 7, 2025 - Fortune India.com - Speaking at the 6th Global Fintech Festival (GFF) in Mumbai, which is being held from October 7-9, 2025, she said, “India’s GCC ecosystem has moved far beyond...

India

Finance minister launches foreign currency settlement...

Oct 7, 2025 - Livemint.com - Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched the foreign currency settlement system on Tuesday at Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City), marking a...

Kyrgyzstan

State-Connected Oligarchs & Looted Public Funds: Tracking Illicit...

Oct 7, 2025 - Gijn.org - Illicit financial flows routinely cross borders today and also have a significant impact in Asia. Investigative journalists in the region have uncovered stories that expose authoritarian...

Libya

The Central Bank discusses risks of delaying the AML law and...

Oct 7, 2025 - Libyaupdate.com - The fourth regular meeting of the National Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Committee for 2025 was held this morning, Tuesday, October 7...

Mexico

Mexico, U.S., Banking Interconnection, and Money Laundering: A Long...

Oct 7, 2025 - Fundssociety.com - At This Point in the 21st Century, the Interconnection Between the Financial Systems of Mexico and the United States Is One of the Most Comprehensive...

Nigeria

Lawyers urged to learn money laundering laws, ensure compliance

Oct 7, 2025 - Guardian.ng - Lawyers in Nigeria have been advised to be conversant with the money laundering laws to ensure compliance and avoid aiding such crimes. The advice was given in Owerri by...

Also See:

Centre warns lawyers against aiding financial crimes

Oct 7, 2025 - The Nation Online ng.net

CBN issues new agent banking rules

Oct 6, 2025 - Guardian.ng - The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has released new operational guidelines for agent banking, introducing stricter compliance measures, transaction limits and location controls...

Payment Services

UPI Launched In Qatar To Boost Cross-Border Payments & Trade

Oct 7, 2025 - Knnindia.co.in - India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has been introduced in Qatar, with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal launching the platform at Lulu Hypermarket in Doha...

Swiss central bank explores how to make cross border DLT payments...

Oct 7, 2025 - Ledger Insights.com - Some regulators dislike permissionless blockchains because bad actors might be participants, the regulators have no governance control and they can’t control money...

Philippines

BSP backs amendments to bank secrecy law

Oct 6, 2025 - MSN.com - The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is backing proposals to amendment the country’s bank secrecy law to strengthen supervision of bank accounts and align with international...

Remittances & Immigration

Billions Sent Home: The Hidden Costs of Migration-Fueled Remittances

Oct 7, 2025 - Hungary Today.hu - Remittances – money sent home by migrants – play an increasingly vital role in developing economies, stimulating household consumption, improving balance of...

Bangladesh: Remittance costs from Saudi Arabia still high: BB governor

Oct 7, 2025 - The Dailystar.net - Remitting money from Saudi Arabia remains disproportionately expensive for Bangladeshi migrant workers, said Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur...

Tunisia: Tourism revenues and remittances cover 120.9% of external...

Oct 7, 2025 - African Manager.com - Tourism receipts and cumulative workers’ remittances cover 120.9% of the external debt service, according to monetary and financial indicators published by the...

South Africa

South Africa awaits FATF greylisting verdict: a key timeline and expert...

Oct 7, 2025 - Fanews.co.za - With the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) set to announce its decision on South Africa’s greylisting status in the coming weeks, the nation’s economy and international standing...

Switzerland

How Switzerland's Banking Secrecy Set the Stage for Tech

Oct 7, 2025 - IB Times.co.uk - Switzerland's reputation as a financial powerhouse always rested on one thing: banking secrecy. It was codified in the infamous Banking Act of 1934, where disclosing client...

Tunisia

Head of State urges end to money laundering and illicit flows in...

Oct 7, 2025 - Zawya.com - President Kais Saied discussed at a meeting with Governor of the Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT), Fethi Zouhair Nouri on Monday at Carthage Palace the role of the Financial Analysis...

Virtual Currencies Around the World

The GENIUS Act and Stablecoins: Could This Replace State Money...

Oct 6, 2025 - Natlaw Review.com - Congress created a new framework around payment stablecoins but has done more than regulate a digital asset class—it has quietly set in motion a potential...

Illinois Regulation of Digital Asset Kiosks

[Ongoing Story] - Oct 7, 2025 - JD Supra.com - In addition to the recent Illinois Digital Assets and Consumer Protection Act, covered in a previous article, Illinois recently passed digital asset legislation...

The Banking Revolution: Will Stablecoins Destroy Financial Giants?

[Opinion] - Oct 7, 2025 - Hackernoon.com - The introduction of US legislation on stablecoins, the GENIUS Act, has caused many countries to reflect. US-backed tokens will solidify their domination of global...

ECB Speeds Up Rollout of Privacy-Threatening Digital Currency

Oct 7, 2025 - BBN Times.com - The European Central Bank (ECB) is accelerating its preparations for a digital euro, a central bank digital currency aimed at modernizing payments amid...

Also See:

ECB announces component, service providers for digital euro

Oct 7, 2025 - Coingeek.com

India to Roll Out RBI-Linked Digital Currency Amid Dismissal of...

Oct 7, 2025 - Decrypt.co - Union Minister Piyush Goyal announced India will introduce an RBI-guaranteed digital currency at a government event in Doha on Monday. The minister confirmed India has not...

Kazakhstan’s quiet revolution: Crypto, AI, and a tech transformation

Oct 7, 2025 - Euronews.com - A country once known for its oil and vast grassland plains is now racing to become Central Asia’s digital powerhouse — betting on artificial intelligence, AI governance...