Following accusations of money laundering by the United States Department of the Treasury[2] and continued pressure from national regulatory agencies,[3] on 26 February 2018 the ABLV board voted to start the process of voluntary liquidation.

[10] In 2017, Sally Painter of Blue Star Strategies and who had previously worked at Parex Bank allegedly intermediated a secret payment from Latvia to Anders Aslund, who was on the Atlantic Council, for him to write an article which stated that ABLV Bank had not been involved in money laundering.

[17][5] On February 13, 2018, the FinCEN (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network of the US Department of Treasury) published a message with a variety of accusations against ABLV — from suspicions of complicity in money laundering and avoiding currency controls to assisting North Korea in implementation of its nuclear program.

On February 24, 2018, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced that ABLV will be liquidated in accordance with the laws of Latvia.

The letter was signed by David Cohen, former CIA Deputy Director and Comptroller of FinCEN, now a partner at WilmerHale.

The indictment alleged that, starting in 2010, Bernis led an organized crime group that utilized shell firms incorporated and administered by International Overseas Services to launder illicit funds.

The bank's division, ABLV Corporate Services, was accused of helping cover up the illegal activities.

[21] On September 26, 2024, FinCEN submitted a notice to the Federal Register withdrawing its finding that ABLV Bank, AS is a financial institution of primary money laundering concern, as well as the related notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) seeking to impose special measure five pursuant to section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act (section 311).