The Brussels Public Prosecutor’s Office confirmed on June 1 that it is in the advanced stages of an investigation into money transfer company Wise over more than €500 million ($582.5 million) in suspicious transactions, after the European Investigative Collaborations (EIC) network — which includes The Bureau of Investigative Journalism — published findings from its “Dirty Payments” investigation. The probe was opened last year after Wise’s name repeatedly appeared in hundreds of mutual legal assistance requests from investigating authorities across Europe; prosecutors said it “primarily concerns the use of Wise accounts for criminal purposes, with indications of non-compliance with anti-money laundering legislation, particularly due to a failure to identify customers and their activities,” with alleged links to fraud, corruption, and drug trafficking. The investigation “is now at an advanced stage and nearing its conclusion,” a spokesperson said. Wise’s shares fell nearly 15% on the London Stock Exchange by midday. The investigation covers Wise’s European entity, not its roughly 3 million UK users; the UK Financial Conduct Authority declined to say whether it was also examining the company.
Wise said it is cooperating with the Brussels prosecutor, that no specific findings have been shared with it, and that “it would be speculative for us to comment on any allegations.” The company attributed the concentration of requests in Belgium to its corporate structure: its European operations are headquartered there and serve the broader EU through passporting, routing all regional law enforcement requests to Brussels — making the volume appear concentrated rather than exceptional. The news represents a fresh challenge for a company that processed more than $243 billion in cross-border transactions in FY2026 and completed its primary listing on Nasdaq as recently as May 2026, retaining a secondary London listing. A separate multistate US enforcement action over Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering violations was settled in July 2025, and European regulators have been under heightened pressure to scrutinize fintech AML controls since the collapse of Wirecard in 2020.