On 16th August, the Dutch Central Bank (DNB) said in the latest regulatory hurdle that Cryptocurrency exchange company Binance was operating its services in the Netherlands without necessary registration.

The DNB (De Nederlandsche Bank) said by a warning, “Binance is providing crypto services in the Netherlands without the required legal registration.” As per their statement, Binance is not in compliance with anti-money laundering or anti-terrorism financing regulation in the Netherlands. “This may increase the risk of customers becoming involved in money laundering or terrorist financing,” the bank further suggested.

From the Binance side, a company spokesperson said in an emailed statement that they took the compliance quite seriously and was in the process of submitting an application for the required registration.

However, two days later on 18th August, Binance, one of the world’s biggest crypto exchanges by trading volumes, said that it had appointed a former U.S Treasury criminal investigator. The new appointee Greg Monahan said in a statement, “My efforts will be focused on expanding Binance’s international anti-money laundering and investigation programs, as well as strengthening the organization’s relations with regulatory and law enforcement bodies worldwide.”

Regulators in Britain, Germany, Hong Kong and Italy had earlier voiced similar concerns and have put up pressure on Binance already. On important note, this year Binance was under investigation by the U.S Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service.

Due to the regulatory concerns, Binance has had to step back from operating parts of its business. Recently, in July the exchange company stopped its consumers from opening new futures or derivatives product accounts in Germany, Italy and Netherlands.

Joyashree Dey

CBW - External Analyst

INDIA