#Block was fined $80 million.#

Block Inc. has been fined $80 million by financial regulators in 48 U.S. states for violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and anti-money laundering (AML) regulations. The action was led by California and Texas, with Block fully cooperating with the investigation. Regulators noted that Block failed to fully comply with key requirements, including customer due diligence and high-risk account management, which could have allowed its services to be used for money laundering, terrorism financing, or other illegal activities. To resolve the issues, Block has agreed to pay the fine, hire an independent consultant to review the effectiveness of its BSA/AML program, submit a report within nine months, and implement corrective actions within 12 months. This event serves as a reminder to fintech companies of the importance of compliance with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regulations, and the need to strengthen customer due diligence and risk management to prevent their services from being used for illegal activities.