Belgian Central Bank Publicly Names Wise Europe in AML Supervisory Measures

Belgium’s National Bank has publicly named Wise Europe SA in two anti-money laundering supervisory decisions, marking a notable use of the regulator’s strengthened 2026 policy for publishing AML/CFT enforcement measures.

The National Bank of Belgium (NBB) published both decisions on 25 August 2026. One was published under Article 98/1, read together with Article 135 §3, of Belgium’s Anti-Money Laundering Act of 18 September 2017. The other was published under Article 93 §2(1) of the same law.

What the two publications mean

Under Article 98/1, the NBB is generally required to publish, on a named basis, decisions imposing certain administrative measures on supervised financial institutions. The regulator says it tightened its policy for assessing whether named publication is proportionate in response to FATF recommendations, with the revised approach applying to administrative measures imposed from 1 January 2026.

Article 93 §2(1) separately allows the NBB to make public that an obliged entity has not complied with an order requiring it, within a deadline set by the regulator, to comply with provisions of Belgium’s AML law, implementing measures, the EU funds-transfer regime or applicable financial-embargo due-diligence requirements.

Wise Europe is the first institution currently shown by the NBB under the regulator’s revised 2026 named-publication framework. The NBB’s public AML decision page lists the two Wise Europe entries dated 25 August 2026 ahead of an older anonymised 2022 decision.

Separate from the Belgian criminal investigation

The supervisory publications are distinct from the separate criminal investigation previously confirmed by the Brussels Public Prosecutor’s Office into Wise Europe and possible AML-control failures. That investigation has involved scrutiny of transactions and accounts referred to Belgium by authorities in other European jurisdictions.

The NBB publications should therefore be treated as regulatory supervisory measures, not as a criminal conviction. The public NBB listing does not, by itself, disclose a criminal finding or establish that Wise Europe has been convicted of money laundering.

The development is significant because the NBB explicitly linked its tougher named-publication policy to FATF recommendations. For payment institutions and other supervised firms, it increases the reputational consequences of unresolved AML supervisory deficiencies even where the measure is administrative rather than criminal.