India’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) announced on June 19 a fine of 188.2 million rupees (approximately $2.25 million) on cryptocurrency exchange Binance for failing to comply with national anti-money laundering (AML) regulations , illegally providing services to Indian customers.

Case Background

In January 2024, Indian authorities issued a warning to Binance and several other overseas cryptocurrency exchanges for "illegal operations in India." By May 2024, Binance and KuCoin became the first overseas cryptocurrency-related companies to receive FIU approval. But the approval was conditional, and Binance must pay a fine after a hearing with the FIU.

As a virtual digital asset service provider, Binance needs to be regarded as a reporting entity according to Article 2 of the country’s Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), which means that Binance is obliged to continuously report user transaction records to the authorities. Implementation Strict anti-money laundering measures. However, the FIU investigation found that Binance failed to meet these obligations when servicing Indian customers.

The FIU’s announcement stated that the allegations against Binance were substantiated based on the materials in the record and after taking into account the directors’ written and oral statements. The FIU’s penalty against Binance involves multiple violations, including failure to maintain and report transaction records, failure to provide required information to authorities, and failure to maintain records as required.

Regulatory fines in other countries

Today, after 2024, Binance faces many regulatory obstacles in countries around the world. In May this year, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Center of Canada (FINTRAC) announced an administrative fine of $4.4 million against Binance for failing to register and report large-value (more than 10,000 mg) digital asset transactions.

In February, Nigerian authorities also detained two Binance executives after the company was accused of tax evasion and money laundering.

This article Binance was fined 180 million rupees by the Indian government for violating security laundering regulations first appeared on Zombit.