Shares in Wise tumbled on Monday following official confirmation that the UK-based fintech company is cooperating with an investigation by Belgian authorities into its compliance with anti-money-laundering legislation. Wise confirmed to the stock market that it is working with the Brussels prosecutor to respond to queries about its business operations, a standard procedure when engaging regulators and law-enforcement authorities.
The disclosure came after a report by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism detailed allegations that criminal networks used Wise accounts to launder the proceeds of fraud, corruption, and drug trafficking. Investors reacted quickly to the confirmation, sending shares plunging by more than 10% during early afternoon trading.
According to the investigative report, prosecutors in Belgium opened the inquiry last year after Wise accounts were flagged in hundreds of cross-border legal assistance requests originating from more than 30 countries across Europe. The transactions currently under review total approximately €500 million, or £433 million. Belgian authorities are reportedly investigating “indications of non-compliance with anti-money laundering legislation.”
“His office’s inquiries are still incomplete and no specific findings have been shared with us to date,” Wise said in its stock market statement. The company, which processes 4.7 million transactions daily for 19 million customers and holds a valuation exceeding £8 billion, emphasized its ongoing security protocols. “Like every financial institution, we face the reality of increasingly sophisticated bad actors attempting to exploit our platform, and we continually invest in tech-enabled systems and teams to stay ahead of ever-evolving threats,” Wise told investors.
Wise outlined its approach to financial crime prevention, stating that it verifies customers before account creation and continuously monitors hundreds of data points in real time. The company said its teams review transactions, offboard customers when necessary, and proactively report suspicious activity to law enforcement. “Around one-third of Wise’s global team is dedicated to protecting our customers from financial crime and this focus is shared across all of our teams,” the company said.
Wise, formerly known as TransferWise, made its public debut in 2021 and recently shifted its primary listing from London to the United States. The company’s compliance record has faced scrutiny in the past; in 2024, co-founder and chief executive Kristo Käärmann was fined £350,000 by UK regulators for failing to report “significant tax issues.” The Guardian reported that it contacted Belgium’s central directorate for anti-crime operations for further comment regarding the investigation.