At least £325bn of 'dirty money' flows through UK each year, says report
Research published by the Finance Innovation Lab charity estimates that at least £325 billion in illicit funds passes through the UK every year — a sum equivalent to more than 10% of the country's GDP. The figure covers money tied to financial crime, money laundering, corruption, illegal trade, and tax evasion.
When the UK's crown dependencies and overseas territories, including Jersey and the Cayman Islands, are factored in, the estimated total rises to more than £788 billion annually. The research is understood to be the first systematic effort to measure the scale of illicit financial flows connected to the UK, drawing on cross-border data to illustrate the country's role as an international hub for dirty money.
The findings are raising concerns about the adequacy of funding for state investigators and questioning the government's approach to crypto assets.
Google engineer charged with insider trading on Polymarket
A Google software engineer is facing federal criminal charges after allegedly using confidential company data to earn more than $1 million on the predictions market platform Polymarket. The charges were unsealed in a federal court in New York.
Michele Spagnuolo, an Italian citizen who allegedly used the username "AlphaRaccoon," is accused of accessing Google's internal software tools to obtain nonpublic information on the top search terms in 2025. He then used that data to place substantial wagers on Polymarket related to Google search trends.
Spagnuolo appeared in court and was released on $2.25 million bail. He has been charged with commodities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. Google confirmed it is cooperating with law enforcement.
Central banks complete successful tests of cross-border blockchain payments
A blockchain-based payments prototype backed by seven major central banks and 40 large financial institutions has completed successful tests, demonstrating the ability to settle cross-border transactions cheaply and near-instantaneously. The system, known as Project Agorá, was developed under the leadership of the Bank for International Settlements and the International Institute of Finance.
The project enables commercial banks to transfer funds across borders by tokenizing deposits, using the same distributed ledger technology that underpins cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. It is designed in part to help central banks and traditional financial institutions compete with US dollar-backed stablecoins — a space currently dominated by crypto firms Tether and Circle.
The project involves institutions from the US, EU, UK, Japan, South Korea, Canada, Switzerland, and Mexico. Its development may widen the divide between participants and those backing Project mBridge, a rival cross-border payment system led by the Chinese central bank, which the BIS exited in 2024. Most cross-border payments today rely on the correspondent banking system, a slow and costly process long seen as overdue for reform.
