Binance Amplifies Its Compliance Efforts As It Gets Another Regulatory Warning

The Dutch central bank (DNB) has also issued a regulatory warning against Binance for providing its services in the Netherlands without the required registration. The leading cryptocurrency exchange was not compliant with the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Act, said the Nederlandsche Bank. According to the apex bank, the warning applies to Binance Holdings Ltd and its entities that offer its services in the country. The warning from DNB comes amidst a slew of concerns raised by regulators in Britain, Germany, Hong Kong, and Italy against Binance, which is also probed in the US by the CFTC, the Department of Justice, and the tax authorities. In response to these regulatory concerns, Binance has started scaling back parts of its business. Just last month, the exchange restricted futures trading for the residents of Hong Kong, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands. Amidst the regulatory crackdown, as we reported, Binance appointed a former US Treasury criminal investigator as its global money laundering reporting officer. “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,” said the new appointee Greg Monahan, in a statement. In an interview with Bloomberg this week, Binance chief executive Changpeng Zhao said that he’s “spending almost all” of his time on the compliance drive, noting that their number one priority right now is to increase the size of compliance and legal teams and establish a headquarters. The exchange said it had grown its international compliance team and advisory board by 500% since 2020.