A7 scandal shows the limits of periodic compliance checks as UK warns on sanctions evasion

Kremlin-backed FinTech A7 has routed more than $6.9bn through the international banking system despite sanctions on Russia, according to a Financial Times investigation. For PSPs and banks, the uncomfortable part is not just the amount — it is how easily a sanctions-linked network can pass ordinary onboarding and then keep moving.

1. The FT says A7 used front companies, existing businesses and counterfeit invoices to get access to the SWIFT system. The National Crime Agency (NCA) and the UK Government have issued an industry-wide alert saying the network depends on third-country financial institutions to sidestep sanctions.
2. The NCA says A7 claims to have settled more than $86bn of transactions in its first year, while the $6.9bn traced by the FT covers only activity identified through international banking channels. In other words, the reported number is not the whole flow — it is the part that left a visible trail.
3. According to the NCA, the structure combined shell companies acting as sub-agents, fabricated invoices, correspondent banking relationships and exploitation of SWIFT. SmartSearch CEO Phil Cotter called it “a state-backed alternative value transfer system operating at a scale that touches the international financial system.”
4. The NCA has linked A7 to sanctioned state-owned lender Promsvyazbank and state development corporation VEB.RF. It also says the network’s clients include “some of Russia’s most important players in the military-industrial complex” and has raised the possibility of proliferation financing.
5. SmartSearch’s State of Compliance in 2026 report surveyed 1,000 senior decision-makers across UK regulated sectors. It found that 96% expect geopolitical factors to shape their compliance strategies over the next 12 to 18 months, while 16% named state-sponsored attacks as the top geopolitical risk and 11% cited shifting sanctions and embargoes.

The compliance angle is pretty direct: SmartSearch says 54% of identity checks remain manual and 52% of firms struggle to verify beneficial ownership across complex structures. That is exactly the sort of gap a sanctions-evasion network lives in, especially when onboarding looked fine six months ago and annual review cycles have not caught up with reality.