Finance US investigation into possible Russia sanctions violations

Binance under DOJ investigation

According to exclusive information from Bloomberg, The US Department of Justice is currently investigating Finance To determine if there is a cryptocurrency exchange platform It allowed some Russian citizens to evade US sanctions.

The existence of this investigation was revealed by 5 people “close to the file” who wished to remain anonymous given the confidential nature of the matter. However, the news echoes recent news that Russian citizens have once again been able to top up their finance accounts with rubles.

Finance started to apply a package of sanctions against its Russian users in April 2022, requested by the Western alliance because of the Ukrainian conflict. These restrictions are specifically aimed at preventing deposits and transactions in financiers for any Russian citizen who has an amount equal to 10,000 euros on the exchange.

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Finance is a favorite target of regulators

The investigation by the United States Department of Justice comes on top of previous difficulties the Changpeng Zhao platform has faced with various regulators.

Recently, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a complaint against Binance and its CEO for several facts. The platform’s CEO later spoke publicly to respond to the allegations, highlighting the platform’s strict compliance protocol.

Additionally, according to a statement sent to Bloomberg by Binance, The company has greatly improved its legal structure internationally These past years:

“In 2021, Binance embarked on an initiative to completely overhaul its corporate governance structure, bringing in an experienced, world-class executive team and fundamentally changing the way Binance operates globally. […] Our policy does not tolerate duplicate registrations, anonymous identities and obscure sources of funds. »

In 2021 internal financial messages disclosed by the CFTC, some people in key positions at the company allegedly admitted that some of their clients were there. for crime “, before adding” We see evil, but close our eyes “.

However, the company closed all its regulatory loopholes last February.According to Patrick Hillman, the exchange’s chief strategy officer.

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Source: Bloomberg