India’s FIU Imposes Fine on Binance for Violation of Rules
On June 19, India’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) announced the imposition of a 188.2 million rupees fine on Binance due to its provision of services to Indians without complying with the country’s Anti-Money Laundering (AML) rules.
This comes after the FIU sent a notice to Binance on December 28, 2023, asking the crypto exchange to show why appropriate action should not be undertaken against it for violating rules, despite being a Reporting Entity due to its operations as a Virtual Digital Asset Service Provider (VDA SP).
Binance as a reporting entity is expected to maintain and report transaction records and ensure solid AML measures. The FIU director considered Binance’s written and oral submissions and discovered that the charges against it were substantiated on the basis of the material available on record.
Further, the FIU has given specific directions to Binance towards ensuring diligent compliance with the obligations outlined in three laws related to money laundering, maintenance of record and combating the financing of terrorism.
Binance has faced regulatory challenges over the past several months, with regulators imposing fines of millions of dollars. Last month, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) announced a fine of CAD$6 million on Binance because it violated the law, including failure to register as a foreign money services business and report digital currency transactions that exceeded $10,000.