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12/07/24
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BitMEX Responds to News of Bank Secrecy Act Violation Charge
On July 10, BitMex responded to a press release that the crypto exchange pleaded guilty to to violating the law in terms of willful failure to establish, implement, and maintain an adequate anti-money laundering (AML) program.
The crypto exchange said the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) violation charge is old news as it is the same charge brought against its founders four years ago, regarding its operations up to September 2020.
This led to the founders accepting the violation at the time, followed by their sentencing two years later and full remediation of its operations. BitMEX co-founder Ben Delo was sentenced to thirty months probation after he pleaded guilty in 2022.
“We have accepted the BSA charge, will seek an expedited sentencing hearing, and argue that no further fine should be imposed, given the substantial amounts already paid by our founders under the BSA charges brought against them, and under our no admission/no denial settlements with the CFTC and FinCEN in 2021,” said the crypto exchange.
On the same day, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said BitMex willfully evaded U.S. AML laws and lied to a bank regarding the purpose and nature of a subsidiary towards allowing the company to pump money via the United States financial system. Furthermore, the press release noted that the crypto exchange will be sentenced over the coming few months and the violation carries up to five years imprisonment and a fine.
“Our users, partners and regulatory stakeholders have long recognised that BitMEX’s compliance standards and activities have changed immeasurably since the period subject to the BSA charge. In 2020 we implemented a best-in-class user verification programme that has been verified twice by an independent auditor in respect of ensuring US Persons cannot trade on BitMEX,” said BitMex.
Likewise, the firm claimed to have conducted an independent audit of its KYC and AML against the AML regimes of other major financial centres and jurisdictions worldwide.
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