#Block was fined $80 million.#

Block Inc. was fined $80 million by financial regulators in 48 US states for violating the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and anti-money laundering (AML) regulations. The action was led by California, Texas, and other states, with Block fully cooperating with the investigation. The investigation found that Block was not fully compliant with key requirements, including customer due diligence and high-risk account management, potentially allowing its services to be used for money laundering, terrorist financing, or other illegal activities. To resolve the issue, Block agreed to pay the fine and hire an independent consultant to review the effectiveness of its BSA/AML program, with a report due within 9 months and remediation of issues within 12 months. This incident highlights the need for financial institutions to strictly comply with anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing regulations, strengthen customer due diligence and risk management practices, and prevent their services from being used for illegal activities.