National Bank of Belgium decision concerning Wise Europe SA regarding money laundering compliance

Publication of the decision of the National Bank of Belgium concerning Wise Europe SA pursuant to Article 98/1 in conjunction with Article 135 §3 of the Act of 18 September 2017 on the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing and on restriction of the use of cash The National Bank of Belgium (hereinafter the “Bank”), in its capacity as the authority competent for monitoring compliance with the provisions laid down by and pursuant to the Act of 18 September 2017 on the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing and on restriction of the use of cash (hereinafter the “Anti-Money Laundering Act”), assessed the steps taken by Wise Europe SA to comply with the aforementioned act. Based on its checks, the Bank concluded that there are material shortcomings in the due diligence performed by Wise Europe SA having regard to Articles 13 §1 (sharing of information between financial institutions forming part of a group for the purpose of combating money laundering and terrorist financing), 23, 26, 27 (identification and verification of the identity of customers and their beneficial owners), 35 §1 subparagraph 1(2) and subparagraph 2 (due diligence requirement with regard to customer relationships and occasional transactions) and 45 (analysis of atypical transactions) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act. In order to remedy this situation, whilst taking into account the corrective actions and additional risk mitigation measures already implemented by Wise Europe SA, the Bank has ordered it, pursuant to Article 93 §1(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, to put in place the necessary measures to ensure full compliance with the aforementioned statutory provisions no later than 31 January 2027.