North America accounted for the steepest increase in penalties, with fines climbing to more than $1.06bn in the first half of 2025. That marks a 565% jump compared with H1 2024, driven largely by enforcement against crypto platforms.
- The US Department of Justice fined OKX over $504m after the exchange admitted it failed to maintain an effective anti-money laundering (AML) program.
- BitMEX was ordered to pay more than $100m for similar violations, underscoring regulators’ sharper focus on digital assets.
Overall, financial institutions worldwide faced 139 penalties totaling $1.23bn between January and June, according to data from Fenergo. That represents a 417% increase from $238.6m across 118 fines during the same period in 2024.
The report noted regulators in EMEA, North America, and Asia Pacific stepped up enforcement around AML, know your customer (KYC) rules, sanctions, suspicious activity reports (SARs), and transaction monitoring.
EMEA posted $168.2m in fines, more than double the $68m seen in H1 2024. APAC moved in the opposite direction, where penalties plunged to $3.4m compared with $10.7m a year earlier.
Sanctions compliance stood out as another major driver of penalties. In H1 2024, fines for sanctions violations reached only $3.7m, but the figure ballooned to $228.8m in H1 2025.
Analysts attribute the rise to heightened geopolitical tensions and stricter enforcement around cross-border financial flows.
Rory Doyle, head of financial crime policy at Fenergo, warned that the figures reflect regulators’ tougher stance on both traditional finance and crypto.
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.
Rory Doyle, head of financial crime policy at Fenergo
“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,” Rory Doyle notes.
He added that financial institutions need to adopt advanced compliance technology to improve accuracy and reduce gaps in due diligence. Doyle pointed out that limited expertise in financial crime compliance, coupled with more complex markets, makes AI-driven systems critical for firms looking to stay ahead of enforcement pressure.
“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,” Rory Doyle said.
