Block Inc. has been fined $255 million over AML and fraud failures on its Cash App platform, with penalties imposed by state regulators and the CFPB.

Block, Inc. faces violations of the Anti-Money Laundering and Bank Secrecy Act laws, according to officials.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ordered Cash App owner Block to pay $175 million to address security failures.Block must refund consumers up to $120 million and pay a penalty of $55 million into the CFPB’s victims relief fund, according to a Thursday (Jan. 16) press release.“Block employed weak security protocols for Cash App and put its users at risk,” the release said. “While Block is required by law to investigate and resolve disputes about unauthorized transactions, the company’s investigations were woefully incomplete. Block directed users — who had suffered financial losses as a result of fraud — to ask their bank to attempt to reverse transactions, which Block would subsequently deny. Block also deployed a range of tactics to suppress Cash App users from seeking help, reducing its own costs.”Block said in a statement that it settled the case not because it agreed with the CFPB’s findings but because it wanted to be done with the matter.“The historical issues raised in this agreement do not reflect the Cash App experience today,” the company said in the statement. “We are committed to continually investing to ensure we uphold industry-leading standards.”Block now offers multiple points of contact, uses “advanced” detection systems to prevent fraud, and employs an artificial intelligence-powered “Payment Warnings” tool that alerts customers if their transaction may be part of a scam, the statement said.The news came one day after Block agreed to pay an $80 million fine and undertake corrective actions to resolve an enforcement action centering on Cash App and carried out by 48 state financial regulators.Those regulators alleged the company violated Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and anti-money laundering (AML) laws

Block has agreed to pay an $80 million fine and undertake corrective actions to resolve a coordinated enforcement action by 48 state financial regulators that alleged the company violated Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and anti-money laundering (AML) laws. The enforcement action centered on Block’s mobile payment service, Cash App, the Conference of State Bank Supervisors said in a Wednesday (Jan. 15) press release. In addition to paying the assessed penalty to the state agencies, Block agreed to hire an independent consultant to review its BSA/AML program, submit a report to the state within nine months, and correct any deficiencies found in the review within 12 months of filing the report, according to the release

In a coordinated enforcement action by financial regulators in 48 U.S. states, Block, Inc. will pay a $80 million fine and take corrective action to correct violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) laws that protect the financial system from illegal use.

Friday’s stock market rout — where markets plummeted in the wake of a surprisingly strong jobs report that splashed cold water on interest rate cuts from the Fed — added to the CE 100 Index’s downward momentum of this past week. The overall index slipped 2.3% and now stands in negative territory for the year. Two of the 11 pillars we tracked — the Be Well and the Communicate group — gained scant ground. Those segments were up less than 1% each. Banking names will kick off earnings season this week — and stocks in the segment fell to earth, at least a bit, giving back some of trailing 12-month gains that are still lofty, north of 30%. We’ll get a sense of how consumer and commercial credit is faring, along with data on how loan performance has impacted banks’ balance sheets

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC makes new Investment in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ).

block.xyz recently introduced pop-up warnings for potential peer-to-peer payment scams in Cash App, and now block.xyz do the same for bitcoin transactions.

Long Walk Management LP makes new $13.59 million investment in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ).

Jack Dorsey's payments and blockchain infrastructure company, Block Inc., is shifting its focus to develop new tools for Bitcoin miners and enhance its self-custody crypto wallet.

On Wall Street, what goes up must go down, and vice versa. A momentous week with a seesaw of volatility in the markets could be rightly chalked up to the seismic shifts from elections Tuesday (Nov. 5). So-called “Trump trades,” assets tied to President-elect Donald Trump and those likely to benefit from his administration, surged after his win. Headed into November, the FinTech IPO Index was up nearly 15% year to date. That overall return was outpaced by individual names that were up by high-double-digit and even triple-digit percentage points