Binance Exchange Fined by the Dutch Central Bank for illegal Operations

Binance Exchange, the world’s largest cryptocurrency platform by trading volume has been fined the sum of €3.3 million ($3.4 million) by the Dutch Central Bank (DNB) for illegally plying its trade in the country. 

According to a press release shared by the central bank, the period of illegal operations likely spanned from 21 May 2020 (the date registration obligation was introduced) until at least 1 December 2021 (the date end of the investigation by DNB).

The fine became very necessitated as the DNB posited that failure to register under the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Prevention) Act (Wwft) will make Binance unable to report any suspicious transactions to the appropriate authorities, particularly the FIU-NL.

“Binance has a very large number of customers in the Netherlands,” the bank, which is known as DNB, said in the statement. “In addition, Binance has enjoyed a competitive advantage because it has not paid any levies to DNB and has not had to incur other costs in connection with ongoing supervision by DNB.” 

The DNB said the Wwft provision was instituted back in May 2020 to provide a more direct line whereby crypto service providers will be able to follow established guidelines to report suspicious financial transactions.

Binance Exchange Received Fair Consideration by the DNB

Binance Exchange has been judged as being very transparent by the Dutch Central Bank in the investigative process that led to the issuance of the fine. In addition, the DNB confirmed that Binance has finally applied for the Wwft, which makes its standing as a crypto service provider more considerate.

In the light of all these, the DNB said it moderated the fine levied on Binance Exchange by 5% as a show of good faith.

“DNB has moderated the fine by 5%, partly because a registration application has now been submitted and because Binance has been relatively transparent about its business operations throughout the process. This registration is currently being assessed by DNB,” the press release reads.

This is not the first time Binance has been in the crosshairs of regulators, the trading platform has had its businesses suspended in several regions at a time including Turkey, the UK, South Africa, and Italy. However, the exchange has been getting it right with a slew of licenses recorded in different countries including Spain, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates.