Binance Fined $750k by Turkey Regulator

Binance, one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world, was reportedly fined 8 million lira (around $750,000) by the Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) for failing to comply with the government's latest financial crime laws.

According to the official announcement, the crypto exchange failed MASAK's Anti-Money Laundering monitoring examination on how money is obtained through unlawful means. In addition, the announcement further states that the penalty on Binance was the first such action against any cryptocurrency business in the country, and the Turkish regulator is changing its focus on the growing local cryptocurrency industry.

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.

Dozens of the regulators issued warnings earlier this year against Binance as it was operating without any authorization in most of the jurisdictions. These actions also forced Binance to shut several services like margin trading from many jurisdictions and also stock token trading. Fazzaco recently reported that Binance plans to withdraw its licensing efforts in Singapore and wind down its digital payment token (DPT) services in Singapore by 13 February 2022 owing to the increasing regulatory scrutiny in the country. 

​However, although having suffered regulatory crackdowns, Biance continues to look for re-establishment in other jurisdictions. The company has established a joint venture with a consortium led by MDI Ventures (MDI), the venture capital arm of Indonesia's largest telecoms company, Telkom Indonesia, and has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Dubai World Trade Centre Authority (DWTCA) to outline the vision of accelerating the set-up of a new industry hub for Global Virtual Assets.