India Fines Crypto Exchange Binance

The Financial Intelligence Unit of India, known as FIU-IND, has imposed a penalty of 188.2 million rupees ($2.25 million) on the crypto exchange Binance for not complying with the nation’s Anti-Money Laundering regulations while providing services to Indian clients.

This action was announced on June 19 by India’s Anti-Money Laundering unit after finding multiple violations of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

Due to its status as a Virtual Digital Asset Service Provider, Binance is considered a reporting entity (RE) under Section 2(sa)(vi) of the PMLA in India.

This means that the exchange is required to maintain and report transaction records, as well as implement thorough Anti-Money Laundering (AML) measures. However, during the investigation, it was discovered that Binance had failed to meet these obligations while providing services to Indian clients.

In January 2024, show-cause notices were issued to Binance and other offshore cryptocurrency exchanges for “operating illegally” and they were removed from India.