The Islamic Financial Services Board and the Islamic Development Bank Group have formalized a multi-year framework linking prudential standards with technical assistance and development financing. The partnership will support implementation capacity in member countries, research emerging risks and opportunities, and disseminate best practices in Islamic finance.

Kazakhstan’s financial market regulator has expanded mortgage refinancing eligibility for socially vulnerable borrowers and extended additional assistance to Sept. 1, 2027. Eligible borrowers must have a sole residence, more than 180 days of arrears, outstanding principal of no more than KZT 50 million and insufficient income to meet existing loan terms. The support will be financed by recycling repayments from previously refinanced loans rather than through new state funding.

The South Korea Financial Services Commission finalized a two-year deferral of residential PF equity ratio rules, with a 5% threshold starting in 2029 and rising to 20% from 2032. Nonresidential projects remain subject to the rules from 2027. Total PF exposure fell to KRW 168.8 trillion, while PF loans rose to KRW 115.8 trillion and the delinquency rate eased to 4.56%.

The International Monetary Fund warned that an AI-related market correction, a disorderly rise in sovereign yields and cyberattacks could sharply tighten global financial conditions. Banks remain broadly resilient, but stress tests classify institutions representing 22 percent of global banking assets as weak. The IMF called for tighter control of leverage, stronger bank and bond market safeguards, enhanced nonbank and cyber oversight, and robust legal and settlement frameworks for tokenized markets.

The International Monetary Fund projects global growth of 3.1 percent in 2026 and 3.4 percent in 2027, while inflation rises to 4.7 percent before easing to 4.1 percent. Resilience from AI investment and energy-market adjustment is uneven, and downside risks include prolonged conflict, commodity disruption and an AI-related market correction. The IMF urges fiscal rebuilding, targeted household support and monetary policy calibrated to country-specific inflation pressures.

The South Korea Financial Services Commission’s Korea Financial Intelligence Unit announced domestic restrictions on 27 websites operated by unregistered virtual asset service providers, extending existing mobile app controls. Illegal sites may be blocked upon detection without waiting for confirmed customer harm or a court judgment. The unit will also pursue replacement sites and support withdrawals for affected customers.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury imposed more than USD 1.21 billion in penalties on Bank of America for extensive AML and sanctions compliance failures. The bank failed to report more than USD 5 billion in suspicious transactions on time and processed millions of dollars through 475 apparent sanctions violations. It must conduct a third-party lookback and submit key AML controls and data governance arrangements to independent review.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network imposed a USD 1.2 billion penalty on Bank of America for willful anti-money laundering failures that delayed or prevented reporting of more than USD 5 billion in suspicious transactions. The bank admitted violations involving its monitoring, customer due diligence and foreign correspondent account controls, and must complete a lookback and independent reviews. A concurrent USD 750 million Office of the Comptroller of the Currency penalty will be credited against FinCEN’s assessment, while the Office of Foreign Assets Control reached a separate USD 11.6 million sanctions settlement.

The US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency imposed a record USD 750 million penalty on Bank of America for persistent Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering failures. Deficient monitoring affected trillions of dollars in transactions and produced late suspicious activity reports involving billions of dollars, while significant weaknesses remained after a December 2024 enforcement order. FinCEN is separately assessing a USD 1.2 billion fine that credits the OCC penalty and requires remediation.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission found that mortgage brokers need to better substantiate higher cost home loan recommendations and that licensees should strengthen supervision. Seven of eight aggregator groups reported that brokers did not recommend the cheapest option in more than 20% of cases. ASIC also identified delayed or inadequately investigated complaints about the best interests duty.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has imposed a 21-day interim stop order on Fidante Partners’ issuance and retail distribution of Class A units in the Ares Global Credit Income Fund. ASIC considers the target market determination potentially inappropriate because of concerns over risk, capital preservation, portfolio allocations of up to 50% and access to capital.

The Superintendency of Banks of Panama convened the second supervisory college for GNB Financial Group with supervisors from Paraguay, Peru and Colombia. The review covered the group’s strategy, governance and risk management, with emphasis on digital finance, cybersecurity, service continuity, financial crime and anti-corruption controls.