In October, the Taiwan FSC announced that four VASP operators inspected last year were found to have anti-money laundering-related deficiencies. Besides ACE Exchange and Rybit, which have already announced fines, the FSC has now announced that Maicoin Group (Modern Wealth Technology Co., Ltd.) and Bito Group have both been fined 1.5 million New Taiwan Dollars.
Previously, ACE Exchange was fined 1.52 million New Taiwan Dollars for inadequate anti-money laundering measures, becoming the operator with the highest fines. Rybit was fined 1.02 million New Taiwan Dollars for violating anti-money laundering and personal data protection regulations. The fines for Maicoin, the cryptocurrency exchange, and ACE involved only a 20,000 New Taiwan Dollar difference.
Maicoin's anti-money laundering deficiencies fined 1.5 million New Taiwan Dollars
In December 2023, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) of Taiwan conducted an anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing project inspection on Modern Wealth Technology Co., Ltd. (Maicoin) and discovered multiple violations, leading to the company being fined 1.5 million New Taiwan Dollars on November 25, 2024.
Maicoin's violation facts
1. Failure to implement customer review: Modern Wealth did not conduct customer reviews and strengthening measures as required, indicating inadequate risk control. 2. Insufficient transaction monitoring: Failed to effectively incorporate suspicious transaction patterns into monitoring; transaction threshold settings lacked focus. 3. Incomplete transaction records: Failed to properly maintain complete records of customer transaction situations. 4. Improper response to abnormal transactions: Did not conduct sufficient investigations or timely report suspicious transactions to the Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau when faced with abnormal customer transactions.
The FSC imposed a fine of 1.5 million New Taiwan Dollars on Modern Wealth based on Articles 5, 7, 8, and 10 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, warning enterprises to strengthen their anti-money laundering management.
Bito's anti-money laundering deficiencies were also fined 1.5 million New Taiwan Dollars.
Similarly, in the project inspection in December 2023, Bito Technology Co., Ltd. (Bito) was found to have multiple deficiencies in anti-money laundering measures and was fined 1.5 million New Taiwan Dollars on November 25, 2024.
Bito's violation facts
1. Inadequate customer review: The cryptocurrency exchange company's review of the source of wealth for high-risk clients was insufficient, with inadequate identification of the actual beneficiaries of corporate clients. 2. Incomplete transaction monitoring: Ongoing reviews of whether transactions align with customer risk characteristics did not meet standards. 3. Data preservation lapses: Failure to fully record information related to customer transactions. 4. Improper handling of suspicious transactions: Did not timely trigger alerts or further investigations for situations that matched internal suspicious transaction patterns.
Based on the same legal provisions, the FSC imposed a fine of 1.5 million New Taiwan Dollars on Bito, reiterating the importance of regulatory compliance.
Regulatory requirements cannot be ignored; the FSC urges the industry to strengthen internal controls.
The FSC emphasized that enterprises must continuously strengthen internal control measures when facing regulations related to anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing. The penalties imposed on Modern Wealth and Bito highlight the regulatory agency's commitment to financial market stability and international cooperation.
According to Chain News, relevant operators believe that these VASP exchanges have been in operation for a long time, and before there were clear explanations of international and Taiwanese laws, it was inevitable that there would be oversights. Therefore, it is inherently difficult to meet standards when reviewing past records under current criteria.
This article, Taiwan's FSC strikes again! Maicoin and Bito fined 1.5 million New Taiwan Dollars each for anti-money laundering deficiencies, first appeared on Chain News ABMedia.