Canada’s regulatory agency for anti-money laundering announced on Thursday that it has imposed a fine of nearly C$6 million ($4.38 million) on cryptocurrency exchange Binance for breaching laws related to money laundering and terrorist financing. The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) stated that Binance failed to register as a foreign money services business with the regulatory body, despite multiple deadlines.
Additionally, FINTRAC reported that Binance, which halted its operations in Canada last year, did not report receiving virtual currency valued at C$10,000 or more on 5,902 separate occasions between June 1, 2021, and July 19, 2023.
Binance has been in the news lately for the related violations in many countries. In Nigeria, it was recently hit with $10 Billion Fine by Nigerian government Amid Forex Crisis Allegations. Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on information and strategy, claimed that Binance, which is not registered in Nigeria, allowed users to manipulate dollar-naira exchange rates, negatively impacting the country’s currency value.
In a related incident, two Binance executives traveled to Nigeria following the ban on their website in the country, only to be apprehended and detained by officials from the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA). Gambaryan, along with his company Binance Holdings Limited, and another executive, Nadeem Anjarwalla, are facing charges of money laundering exceeding $35 million.
In another development, Binance’s former CEO, Changpeng Zhao, received a four-month prison sentence after admitting guilt to violating U.S. laws related to money laundering. Binance accepted a penalty of $4.32 billion, with Zhao paying a $50 million criminal fine and an additional $50 million to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
