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Catch up on some of the stories our payments compliance analysts have covered lately, and stay up-to-date on the latest news.

CFPB Suffers Double Shock As Budget Slashed And Redundancies Ruled Lawful

Opponents of the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) have experienced twin triumphs, as an injunction halting the agency's restructuring has been lifted and the federal budget bill has almost halved its funding.

The CFPB’s retreat from hands-on regulation now looks set to continue as a key obstacle to its reorganisation was swept away by the Supreme Court.

In an delivered on July 8, 2025, the Supreme Court lifted a lower court’s block on mass redundancies of federal employees, allowing the Trump administration to resume its efforts to restructure the CFPB and slash its workforce.

Unions and NGOs had challenged the restructuring plans, arguing that they were unlawful, and successfully obtained a district court injunction halting them.

But the Supreme Court said that it was likely that the Trump administration would be successful in arguing that its policy was lawfully executed.

“Because the government is likely to succeed on its argument that the executive order and memorandum are lawful - and because the other factors bearing on whether to grant a stay are satisfied - we grant the application.”

The court added, "We express no view on the legality of any agency [reduction-in-force] and reorganization plan produced or approved pursuant to the executive order and memorandum. The district court enjoined further implementation or approval of the plans based on its view about the illegality of the executive order and memorandum, not on any assessment of the plans themselves. Those plans are not before this court."

FCA’s £21m Monzo Fine Emphasises That Growth Must Be Responsible

By imposing the fine on the challenger bank, the UK financial services regulator has sent a reminder to disruptors that they must pay attention to their regulatory duties.

Earlier this week, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for having inadequate anti-financial crime systems and controls for the period October 2018 to August 2020.

The regulator highlighted that the challenger bank failed to design, implement, and maintain adequate customer onboarding, customer risk assessment, and transaction monitoring systems to mitigate the risk of financial crime.

These failings led the FCA to demand an independent review of the firm's financial crime framework in August 2020, and to impose a requirement preventing it from opening new accounts for high-risk customers.

However, Monzo failed to comply with the requirement, notably by signing up more than 34,000 high-risk customers between August 2020 and June 2022.

“Banks are a vital line of defence in the collective fight against financial crime. They must have the systems in place to prevent the flow of ill-gotten gains into the financial system. Monzo fell far short of what we, and society, expect”, said Therese Chambers, the FCA’s joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight.

“Monzo onboarded customers on the basis of limited, and in some cases, obviously implausible information – such as customers using well-known London landmarks as an address. This illustrates how lacking Monzo's financial crime controls were. This was compounded by its inability to properly comply with the requirement not to onboard high-risk customers.”

Worldline Scandal Reminds European PSPs Of The Importance Of AML Compliance

The exposé on French payments giant Worldline may see European payment service providers (PSPs) face increased scrutiny from both national and regional anti-money laundering (AML) authorities.

Last month, European Investigative Collaborations (EIC) published , a series of almost 100 articles in more than a dozen countries and languages, alleging widespread AML and fraud prevention failures by Worldline.

For at least the past 10 years, EIC members claim, the firm has “operated with impunity” and “turned a blind eye” to illegal use of its services throughout Europe.

Allegations that Worldline processed payments for transnational crime gangs engaged in fraud, romance scams, illegal gambling and prostitution caused the company’s stock to crash 40 percent in a single day.

Two days later, prosecutors in Belgium that they had opened a money laundering investigation into Worldline’s local subsidiary.

In response, Worldline said that since 2023 it has “strengthened” its merchant risk framework to ensure “full compliance” with the laws and regulations of each of its markets.

The company also downplayed the importance of its high brand risk (HBR) portfolio, which includes online casinos and adult dating services, noting that such clients make up only 1.5 percent of its acquired volumes.

“All HBR clients still active within this portfolio are now subject to enhanced oversight, based on specific procedures,” it said in a .

“Wherever the Group identifies indications of non-compliant situations, additional checks are immediately undertaken, potentially leading to termination of the client relationship.”

Further EPI Expansion Bolsters Europe’s Payments Sovereignty Agenda

Five new European banks have joined the European Payments Initiative (EPI) and will begin to roll out Wero to their customers.

Belgian banks Argenta, Bank Van Breda, Beobank, Crelan and vdk bank will offer the digital wallet and instant account-to-account (A2A) payment solution from the first half of 2026.

Bank Van Breda will offer the Wero standalone app, which its customers can download from the Apple App or Google Play Store, while the other four banks will be able to access Wero via their banking apps.

Dirk Wouters, chief executive officer of Bank Van Breda, said that integrating Wero into the bank’s offering from 2026 would empower its clients with a fast, secure, and intuitive way to manage their payments.

“At Bank Van Breda, we are proud to contribute to shaping a truly European digital payment solution”, he said.

“Our decision to offer Wero as a standalone app reflects our commitment to flexibility and customer-centric innovation, ensuring our clients can access seamless payment experiences on their own terms.”

UK Competition Regulator Opens Consultation On Worldpay Sale To Global Payments, Signalling Possible Probe

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is to investigate Global Payments’ anticipated acquisition of Worldpay, potentially signalling a deeper investigation ahead of a mid-July deadline.

The CMA on July 3 that it was inviting comments on the investigation, which is the first stage of its information-gathering process, until July 16. However, a formal investigation itself has not yet been launched, it added.

It is considering whether the mooted sale would result in a relevant merger situation under the merger provisions of the Enterprise Act 2002 and if it would result in a reduction in competition in the UK.

A relevant merger situation is created if two or more enterprises have ceased to be distinct at a time or if the turnover test is met, i.e., the value of the turnover in the UK of the enterprise being taken over exceeds £70m; or if the merged entity will supply or purchase 25 percent or more of goods or services of a particular description in the UK.

Global Payments, a US multinational fintech company, agreed to pay $22.7bn for Worldpay in April.

, if the acquisition goes ahead, the new company will have more than 6m customers, enable approximately 94bn transactions and have $3.7trn in volume across more than 175 countries.

When the proposed acquisition was announced in April, Cameron Bready, chief executive of Global Payments, said the acquisition was a pivotal milestone for the company.

“Global Payments and Worldpay bring together highly complementary capabilities and distribution networks, creating significant opportunities for the combined business to accelerate growth, amplify investment in innovation and elevate client and partners experiences with best-in-class solutions,” he said.

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