UK money transfer company Wise is being investigated over suspicions that criminals used its accounts for money laundering, Belgian prosecutors have told French media. The investigation, which focuses on Wise's European operations (not its UK business), is reportedly "nearing its conclusion." Wise, in a statement that reads like a hostage note, said it was working with the Brussels prosecutor's office but that "no specific findings have been shared with us to date."
The confirmation comes after The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) reported that Wise's platforms were suspected of being involved in around €500m (£432m) worth of suspicious transactions across 30 European countries. Shares in the company, listed in London and the US, fell sharply by 17.5% after the news broke - because nothing says "trust us" like a double-digit stock drop.
A spokesperson for the Brussels prosecutors' office told AFP that the investigation is "now at an advanced stage." The findings, they said, "primarily concern the use of Wise accounts for criminal purposes, with indications of non-compliance with anti-money laundering legislation, particularly due to a failure to identify customers and their activities." So, in other words, the company that moves your money might not have known who it was moving money for. Great.
Wise, in its defense, said requests for information from law enforcement agencies are "a normal part of operations and are not, in themselves, indicative of non-compliance." It also noted that it takes financial crime "extremely seriously," with around a third of its staff globally dedicated to protecting customers. That's either a lot of security or a very small staff - we're not sure.
Founded in London in 2011, Wise is best known for facilitating cross-border money transfers and has more than 19 million customers worldwide, processing about 4.7 million transactions a day. It's dual-listed in the US and UK, having moved its primary stock market listing to the US Nasdaq index last month. Its European business is based in Belgium - conveniently the same country now investigating it.
Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, noted that the news wiped more than £1bn off Wise's market value on Monday. "Until any findings are published, this issue is likely to hang like a heavy dark cloud over the business," he said, adding that if failures are uncovered, "hefty fines could be imposed" - and, more fundamentally, "potential harm to customer trust and brand integrity." Yes, because nothing says "trust us with your money" like an ongoing criminal investigation.
This isn't Wise's first rodeo with regulators. In 2024, the Financial Times reported that Wise had been told to improve its processes after the National Bank of Belgium found it lacked proof of address for hundreds of thousands of customers. Wise was also fined $4.2m by six US states over AML compliance violations last year and $360,000 by Abu Dhabi's financial services regulator in 2022. In each case, Wise said it had subsequently addressed concerns - because apparently, fixing things after being caught is the new standard.