Money transfer giant Wise hit with money laundering investigation in Belgium

BRUSSELS – The Belgian prosecutor's office announced on Monday that it is in the final stages of an investigation into the money transfer giant Wise over suspicions that criminals used the company's accounts for money laundering.

According to the Brussels prosecutor's office, the investigation was launched last year after the British company's name repeatedly appeared in hundreds of requests for assistance from investigative authorities in other countries.

"The investigation is now in its final stages and will soon be concluded," a spokesperson for the prosecutor's office told AFP, confirming information previously published by the European Investigative Collaborations (EIC) network.

"The investigation's findings primarily concern the use of Wise accounts for criminal purposes, with indications of non-compliance with anti-money laundering legislation, particularly regarding insufficient identification of customers and their activities."

Investigators are examining whether criminal groups used Wise's services to launder proceeds from illegal activities, including fraud, corruption, and drug trafficking.

The investigation focuses on Wise Europe, the company's Belgium-based European subsidiary, which stated it is cooperating with the prosecutor's office to respond to inquiries regarding its business operations.

"Such information requests are a normal part of business operations and do not in themselves indicate non-compliance with anti-money laundering requirements or any wrongdoing," the company stated.

"To date, no specific findings from the investigation have been shared with us," added the company, which has over 19 million active customers worldwide and processes approximately 4.7 million transactions daily.

According to Wise, the company processed over $243 billion in cross-border transactions during the 2026 fiscal year.

By midday, the company's share price on the London Stock Exchange had dropped by nearly 15 percent.