FINTRAC fines Binance $4.4M over AML/CFT violations

The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) imposed a penalty of approximately 6 million Canadian dollars (U.S. $4.4 million) against crypto platform Binance Holdings Limited over alleged noncompliance with the country’s anti-money laundering/countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) law.

Binance failed to register as a foreign money services business and did not report large virtual currency transactions of $10,000 or more in a single transaction together with the prescribed information, the agency announced Thursday in a press release.

The AML/CFT law is “in place to protect the safety of Canadians and the security of Canada’s economy,” said Sarah Paquet, FINTRAC director and chief executive, in the release. “… We will … be firm in ensuring that businesses continue to do their part, and we will take appropriate actions when they are needed.”