Abu Dhabi fines Wise £310,000 for weak anti-money laundering controls

Wise has been dealt a fresh blow as it was fined £310,000 by regulators in Abu Dhabi for its failures in anti-money laundering controls.

The remittance giant’s unit in the United Arab Emirates failed to meet the standards of the regulator that fined it.

UAE regulators have found no cases of money laundering through the platform and have mitigated the penalties Wise received for cooperating with the investigation.

Fines: Remittance giant Wise’s unit in the United Arab Emirates fails to meet the standards of the regulator that fined it

But it said Wise had not built and maintained “adequate” systems to meet anti-money laundering standards.

Violations include failure to identify and verify the source of high-risk client funds. It also does not include nationality as part of its risk-based client assessment.

Sensible share It rose 0.3%, or 1.2p, to 485.3p.

The fine is the latest setback for the fintech company, which has been struggling since a major listing on the London Stock Exchange last year.

Wise, formerly Transferwise, was valued at around £8bn when it went public last July, making it the largest tech company ever to go public.

The company was founded in 2011 to help people move money around the world more cheaply and easily – stressing that Abu Dhabi’s regulators have not detected any money laundering or financial crime.

“Safety and security are paramount and we have strong controls in place to authenticate customers and detect and prevent any potentially suspicious activity,” a spokesman said.