Binance fined $4.4 million in Canada for violating anti-money laundering laws

Binance was fined by Canada’s anti-money laundering agency for violating the country’s anti-money laundering laws. The world’s largest crypto exchange was previously investigated by the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Center of Canada (FINTRAC) for regulatory violations last year. The lawsuit against the firm comes shortly after CEO Changpeng Zhao was sentenced to four months in prison and ordered to pay $100 million (approximately XXX crore rupees) in fines after pleading guilty to violations of US anti-money laundering laws .

FINTRAC released on Thursday a statement following Binance’s punitive action. The publication revealed that the crypto exchange was fined for violating two Canadian rules that were identified during a compliance activity last year.

In its first violation, Richard Teng-led Binance was accused of failing to register as a Foreign Money Services Business (FMSB) in Canada. “It should be noted that Binance Holdings Limited was considered an FMSB and was required to be registered with FINTRAC until September 25, 2023, when it officially ceased all operations in Canada. Until that day, Binance Holdings Limited was in violation of its registration requirements,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, Binance is also facing action for failing to report 5,902 accounts of large virtual currency transactions between 2021 and 2023, as crypto firms are expected to do in Canada under anti-money laundering laws.

“Binance failed to report a customer’s receipt of a virtual currency amount of $10,000 (roughly Rs. 8.5 lakh) or more in the course of a single transaction along with the prescribed information, which occurred on 5,902 separate occasions during the period of 1 June 2021 to 19 July 2023,” FINTRAC said in a statement.

Binance has yet to publicly respond to the fine imposed by FINTRAC following the investigation into violations of anti-money laundering regulations in Canada.

The exchange is currently embroiled in a legal battle with regulators in Nigeria. Nigerian authorities summoned Binance authorities last month and asked the firm to set up a physical office in the country.