BN Teknoloji company, Binance Turkish unit has been slapped a fine of 8 million Lira or nearly $750k after its audit conducted by the country’s regulator The Financial Crimes Investigation Board [MASAK] detected violations of law that intended to prevent the laundering of money acquired through nefarious activities. As per sources from the local media, Anadolu Agency, MASAK carried out an audit of Law No. 5549 on Prevention of Laundering Proceeds of Crime, also known as the AML Law, and was reportedly the first penalty for a crypto asset platform in the middle eastern nation.
The AML Law of Turkey requires firms to identify and verify the personal identification information of the customers on the platform, which includes details such as surname, date of birth, T.C. identification number [Turkey equivalent of a social security number]. The law also requires businesses to immediately notify the administration about suspicious activities within a 10-day time period.
The latest news comes at a time when Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan recently confirmed during a meeting with reporters that a crypto law is on its way to being sent to the national assembly for discussions “without delay.” The country has already been accelerating its work on regulations for the digital asset market, particularly after two cryptocurrency exchanges collapsed in April this year.
On the other hand, Binance’s trouble does not seem to end as the top exchange continues to grapple with regulatory woes.
Binance re-establishing despite regulatory woes
Previously Tronweekly reported on Binance’s Singapore arm announcement on ending its application efforts in the country owing to increasing regulatory scrutiny. Especially after the Singapore financial watchdog, MAS added the trading firm to its list of Investor’s Alert which has the names of several unregulated platforms mistakenly perceived as being licensed or regulated by the authority. That however did not deter Binance to continue looking for re-establishing its presence elsewhere.
According to an interview this month, Changpeng Zhao, CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange revealed the firm’s intention to apply for a Financial Conduct Authority [FCA] license in the United Kingdom. The trading platform’s joint venture with a consortium led by Indonesia’s largest telecom firm last week also signals a shift in focus to other places.