Binance, one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, has been fined $22.5 lakh (about Rs 18.8 crore) in the country. The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) said on Thursday that this fine has been imposed for not complying with the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Crypto-related firms have to follow this law for business in the country.
FIU gave the reason
The FIU said in a notification on Thursday, “After considering the written and oral submissions of Binance, the Director of FIU-IND found that the allegations against Binance were substantiated on the basis of the material available on record.” The notification said Binance will have to pay a fine of Rs 18.82 crore and also comply with “Chapter IV of PMLA 2002 for prevention of money laundering activities and combating the financing of terrorism (AMLCFT) and maintain a record of all transactions under the PMLA Record Maintenance Rules (PMLA Rules) 2005.
The company maintained silence
A senior official said Binance had not registered as a reporting unit with the FIU as required under the PMLA. It did so in May this year, when the central government banned its URLs in India and it was issued a notice by the FIU along with 8 other crypto companies. At present, there has been no comment from the exchange in this regard.
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