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.”

The details: Before Sept, 25, 2023, when Binance ceased operations in Canada, it failed to register with FINTRAC or meet deadlines to register despite several opportunities, the agency alleged in a penalty notice.

From June 2021 to July 2023, Binance failed to report large transactions on 5,902 separate occasions, FINTRAC alleged.

In November, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the company would plead guilty and pay $4.3 billion in penalties over widespread AML violations. Binance founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao also pleaded guilty and agreed to pay a $150 million fine to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Late last month, Zhao was sentenced to four months in prison.

Binance did not respond to a request for comment.

Jeff Dale is Managing Editor, Editorial Projects and Analytics, at Compliance Week. He previously served as Compliance Week's Digital Editor and has worked as a copy editor at the Boston Herald and city editor at The Hour Publishing Co. in Norwalk, Conn.View full Profile

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