A US district court approved the plea agreements reached by Binance, ex-CEO Changpeng Zhao, and the US Department of Justice.
Operating the biggest cryptocurrency exchange on the planet, Binance.com pleaded guilty and ended the Justice Department’s investigation into the company’s possible violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), IEEPA, and failing to register as a money transmitter. consented to pay more than $4 billion to settle the matter.
Canadian Changpeng Zhao, founder and CEO of Binance, was also convicted of violating the BSA by failing to establish a thorough anti-money laundering (AML) program.
Dockets show that Binance acknowledged putting profit and expansion ahead of following US regulations. Binance began operations in 2017 with the intention of drawing in large numbers of users, particularly those in the United States. U.S. residents made up the vast majority of Binance’s clientele as the company soared to the position of the top cryptocurrency exchange globally.
Court records show that Binance was compelled to register as a money services firm with FinCEN and establish a reasonable anti-money-laundering policy in order to avoid being used to aid money laundering due to its U.S. client base.
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