Binance Slapped With $4.4 Million Fine By Canadian Government
Canada has imposed a fine against Binance – the world’s largest crypto exchange – for running afoul of the nation’s anti-money laundering rules last year.
Per a public notice published on Thursday, the federal government said Binance didn’t comply with rules and registrations related to operating as a foreign money services business (FMSB).
Binance Fined $4.4 Million By Canada
The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) wrote:
“Binance Holdings Limited was imposed an administrative monetary penalty of $6,002,000 CAD on May 7, 2024, for committing 2 violations. The violations were found during the course of a compliance activity in 2023.”
Aside from failing to register as an FMSB, the regulator said Binance failed to report the receipt of large virtual currency transactions with a value exceeding $10,000 CAD. A total of 5,902 transactions of the sort weren’t reported properly by Binance between June 1 2021 and July 19, 2023.
The fine arrived just two weeks after Binance co-founder and ex-CEO, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), was sentenced to four months in prison after failing to implement an adequate know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) regime at his exchange.
The founder and his company pled guilty to AML violations in November, after which they agreed to pay a separate $50 million and $4 billion fine as part of a settlement deal with the US Department of Justice.
Binance’s Many Legal Troubles
Canada’s fine – which is roughly equal to $4.4 million USD – marks another coincidental penalty against Binance associated with the number ‘4’. During CZ’s reign, the executive often used the number as a coded message to encourage followers to dismiss negative rumors about his company – including those of federal investigations.
Indeed, Binance’s legal trouble is far from over with. The company is currently juggling a massive lawsuit from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for listing over a dozen alleged securities on its platform.
The firm’s current CEO Richard Teng is also fighting with the Nigerian government to release one of Binance’s executives, who has been detained for over 70 days.
In Canada specifically, Binance has already closed shop due to its inability to meet the nation’s regulatory high bar. A rival exchange, Coinbase, recently became the first foreign exchange to gain full license to operate in the country.
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