Binance’s compliance past, future detailed

There are a slew of compliance lessons to be learned from the $4.3 billion settlement that Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, reached with a handful of U.S. government agencies.

The largest of those lessons is the significant penalties and company leadership, including the chief compliance officer, held personally responsible for their alleged attempts to evade U.S. laws to hold onto the exchange’s most valuable clients.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) detailed in its charging document how Binance did not comply with U.S. laws and regulations related to the anti-money laundering (AML) provisions of the Bank Secrecy Act, which also requires new customers to be vetted and transactions to be monitored for suspicious activities.