Legal problems facing the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance continue to escalate as a new report indicates that the exchange has been under investigation in France since early 2022.
according According to a report in the French daily, Le Monde, the French arm of the cryptocurrency exchange, has been the subject of a preliminary investigation – conducted by the Financial Judicial Investigation Service under the specialized interregional jurisdiction in Paris – since February 2022.
The Paris Prosecutor’s Office reportedly mentioned “acts of illegal exercise of the function of service provider on digital assets (PSAN), aggravated money laundering acts, through participation in investment, concealment and transfer operations, which are carried out by the perpetrators of these crimes.” which is profitable”, as the basis for the investigation.
Binance has reportedly failed to follow or comply with KYC procedures that keep users screened for potential money laundering activities.
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The cryptocurrency exchange reportedly failed to obtain an operating license and illegally offered its services to French clients. Since 2019, cryptocurrency exchanges are required to obtain approval from the Financial Markets Authority (AMF) to operate. However, Binance, which has been operating in France since 2020, reportedly only received approval from the AMF in May 2022.
A Binance spokesperson told Cointelegraph:
Binance invests significant time and resources in cooperating with law enforcement globally. We comply with all laws in France, just as we do in every other market in which we operate. We will not comment on details of law enforcement or regulatory investigations except to say that information about our users is kept. securely and only provided to government officials upon receipt of appropriate documented justification.
Reports of an investigation in France emerge within weeks of a securities lawsuit against a cryptocurrency exchange in the United States. The US Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a total of 13 charges against the US subsidiary of cryptocurrency exchange and CEO Changpeng Zhao.
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