Money transfer giant Wise investigated for half a billion in… | TBIJ

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About a 4 minute read.

Published June 1 2026

By

Simon Lock

In brief

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Fintech giant Wise is under investigation by prosecutors in Belgium

Hundreds of judicial requests have been submitted from around Europe involving half a billion euros of suspicious transactions

Wise may have failed to comply with anti-money laundering legislation – which is vital in protecting the public from financial crime

The digital money transfer giant Wise boasts 15 million customers around the world who use its services for quick, easy payments. You might recognise its bright-green branding. You might even have an account. As its website says: “We move billions for millions worldwide, every year.”

But we can reveal that the company is under investigation over concerns that its accounts have been used by criminals to launder the proceeds of fraud, corruption and drug trafficking.

Prosecutors in Belgium opened the investigation last year after noticing that Wise accounts had featured in hundreds of requests for cross-border help in criminal proceedings from more than 30 countries across Europe. The transactions concerned amounted to half a billion euros.

They have said they are looking into “indications of non-compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) legislation” by the company, which specialises in cheap international transfers.

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The investigation relates to Wise’s European operations and is not directly connected to its 3 million UK users, who are managed from London.

The Financial Conduct Authority, the UK’s financial regulator, declined to comment when we asked whether it was also looking into Wise or providing assistance to European investigators.

With up to $2 trillion – or 5% of global GDP – estimated to be laundered by criminals each year, AML safeguards are vital in stopping the funding and flourishing of illegal activities.

The findings are part of the Dirty Payments investigation conducted by the Bureau with 10 international media partners led and coordinated by the network European Investigative Collaborations (EIC).

Confirming their knowledge of the investigation, a spokesperson for Wise said its Belgian office handles all law-enforcement requests from across the European Economic Area, adding that around a third of staff is “dedicated to fighting financial crime”.

“We are currently working with the Brussels prosecutor to respond to queries about our business, as we routinely do with regulators and law-enforcement authorities,” they said.

Founded in 2011, Wise is dual-listed in the US and UK, having moved its primary listing to the Nasdaq Stock Exchange last month. It remains headquartered in London though, and is worth around £10bn.

This is not the first time Wise’s AML controls have come under scrutiny. Back in 2024, the Financial Times reported that the company had been forced into a remediation plan by European regulators after the National Bank of Belgium found evidence that it lacked a proof of address for hundreds of thousands of customers.

Then just last year, Wise’s US subsidiary was fined $4.2m following an investigation by regulators in six states for violations of the Bank Secrecy Act and AML laws under the Countering the Financing of Terrorism programme.

A Wise spokesperson said it had fully cooperated with US and Belgian regulatory reviews, implementing all recommendations.

Last year, the UK Treasury published its latest national risk assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing. It said that the sector of electronic money institutions – the industry name for e-payment companies like Wise – was booming because of “its convenience and accessibility” but raised the level of threat it posed to money laundering and terrorist financing to “high”.

The report found that the sector had become increasingly attractive to criminals as a way “to manage and launder funds cross-border”. It also found that there had been increasing “exposure to high-risk jurisdictions”.

What next?

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The Belgian investigation is ongoing – but prosecutors say it is set to conclude soon

The existence of the investigation raises questions for the UK’s FCA, as Wise is a UK-headquartered firm. It also comes at a time when the regulator’s remit has expanded substantially

At the Bureau, we will be focusing on the role played by electronic money institutions like Wise in financial crime

Header image: Oliver Kemp/TBIJ

Reporter: Simon Lock<br>Enablers editor: Lawrence Marzouk<br>Deputy editor: Katie Mark<br>Editor: Franz Wild<br>Production...