Investigations and intelligence updates

Saudi Arabia enters the Iran war

Saudi Arabia is coming under increasing pressure to become a direct participant in the widening Iran-US-Israel conflict, with Iranian strikes on Saudi territory, joint US-Saudi strikes on Iran-aligned groups in Iraq, and an escalating confrontation with the Houthis in Yemen.

Afghanistan five years on: isolated no more?

Five years after the Taliban's return to power, Afghanistan is moving from isolation towards greater diplomatic and economic engagement, with Russia's formal recognition, closer ties with India and China, and technical contacts with the EU.

UBS hit with $125 million penalty

UBS Financial Services has been fined US$125 million by FinCEN for anti-money laundering failures, the largest Bank Secrecy Act penalty ever imposed against a broker-dealer, following earlier enforcement action against the firm for similar deficiencies in 2018.

What the Shelbit and Aban Tether crypto sanctions tell us about tracing illicit finance

On 7 August 2026, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated two crypto exchanges, Shelbit Exchange and Aban Tether, together with their operator Siavash Kayvanpour and a network of four affiliated front companies spanning Georgia, Poland and the UAE. The allegation: helping Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) move money through the crypto system.