Wise, the UK-listed money transfer company, is under investigation by Belgian prosecutors over suspicions criminals used its accounts for money laundering purposes.
Belgian prosecutors confirmed to press agency AFP that the investigation is focused on Wise’s European operations and is “now at an advanced stage” and “nearing its conclusion.”
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism reported that Wise’s platforms were suspected of involvement in around €500m (£432m) worth of suspicious transactions spanning 30 European countries.
Shares in Wise fell sharply by 17.5% after news of the investigation broke, reflecting investor concern over the probe’s potential implications.
A spokesperson for the Brussels prosecutors’ office told AFP that “the findings 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.”
In response, Wise said it was working with the Brussels prosecutor “to respond to queries about our Business, as we routinely do with regulators and law-enforcement authorities.”
The company stated that “no specific findings have been shared with us to date” and that it would be “speculative” to comment on any allegations at this stage.
Wise also said requests for information from law enforcement agencies were “a normal part of operations and are not, in themselves, indicative of non-compliance with anti-money laundering requirements or of any wrongdoing.”
Founded in London in 2011, Wise serves more than 19 million customers worldwide and processes approximately 4.7 million transactions per day.
The company is dual-listed in the US and UK, having recently moved its primary stock market listing to the US Nasdaq index, while its European business remains headquartered in Belgium.
This is not the first time Wise’s anti-money laundering controls have faced regulatory scrutiny from authorities across multiple jurisdictions.
In 2024, the Financial Times reported the firm had been told to improve its processes after the National Bank of Belgium found evidence that it lacked proof of address for hundreds of thousands of customers.
Wise was also fined $4.2m (£3.1m) by six US states over anti-money laundering compliance violations and $360,000 by Abu Dhabi’s financial services regulator in 2022.
In each case, Wise said it had subsequently addressed regulators’ concerns and taken appropriate remedial action.
On Monday, the firm said that like every financial institution, it faced “the reality of increasingly sophisticated bad actors attempting to exploit our platform” and that around a third of its staff globally were dedicated to protecting customers.