Dutch Central Bank Fines Binance For $3.35M Citing Registration Violation
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Binance's Regulatory And Legal Trouble Continues
According to an official statement from today, the fine was imposed because Binance was offering crypto services without the legally required registration, following a public warning issued against the company in August 2021. The bank further clarified that the crypto company had objected to the fine on June 2, 2022.
Crypto companies in the Netherlands are obliged to register with DNB under the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Prevention) Act. While the DNB said it has not yet approved Binance's registration, it did minimize the fine it had originally intended by 5 percent because the company has "been relatively transparent about its operations throughout the process."
DNB considered Binance's status as the world's largest provider of crypto services when determining the size of the monetary penalty, with a daily trading volume of $13.7 billion and a large customer base in the Netherlands.
The DNB further saw that Binance enjoyed a competitive advantage because it did not pay any levies to the central bank and did not have to incur other costs in connection with ongoing supervision by the Dutch Central Bank.
The violations took place over a long period - from 21 May 2020 until at least 1 December 2021, giving them another reason for the increased fine. DNB, therefore, considers these violations to be serious.