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ARTICLE · 09 NOVEMBER 2026

AML Regulatory Roundup – October

Lowenstein Sandler LLP
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Financial regulators issued five major enforcement actions in October 2026 against banks and broker-dealers for compliance failures, resulting in penalties totaling over $2 billion. The cases reveal persistent deficiencies in anti-money laundering programs, transaction monitoring systems, and sanctions compliance that continue to expose the U.S. financial system to illicit activity. What do these enforcement patterns signal about regulatory priorities and the critical gaps institutions must address in their

United StatesFinance and Banking
Robert A. Johnston Jr.
Robert A. Johnston Jr.
Paula Ladd
Paula Ladd
Samantha Sigelakis-Minski
Samantha Sigelakis-Minski
Farah Z. Hussain
Farah Z. Hussain

October was a busy month for regulators. There were five enforcement actions against banks, broker-dealers, and other regulated entities for compliance failures issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), as well as the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). Below are the most relevant cases from October illustrating that while there has been a trend of deregulation in the past two years, there is still a focus on combating sanctions evasion and bolstering anti-money laundering (AML) programs.

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