U.S. Treasury announces settlements with virtual currency exchange for violations of AML and sanctions laws
Largest settlements in U.S. Treasury Department history
U.S. Treasury announces settlements with virtual currency exchange
The U.S. Department of the Treasury today announced the largest settlements in history with a virtual currency exchange for violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and apparent violations of multiple sanctions programs.
According to the Treasury release, the violations include failure to implement programs to prevent and report suspicious transactions with terrorists, ransomware attackers, money launderers, and other criminals, as well as matching trades between U.S. users and those in sanctioned jurisdictions like Iran, North Korea, Syria, and the Crimea region of Ukraine.
OFAC’s settlement agreement
Today’s OFAC release explains that:
- The virtual currency exchange—a Cayman Islands company—settled for approximately $968 million for over 1.6 million apparent violations of multiple sanctions programs.
- Between 2017 and 2022, the virtual currency exchange engaged in the exportation of goods and services from the United States, or by U.S. persons, to users located in sanctioned jurisdictions or blocked persons and caused U.S. persons to engage in transactions with users in those sanctioned jurisdictions or blocked persons.
- OFAC determined that these apparent violations were egregious and were not voluntarily self-disclosed.
FinCEN’s settlement agreement
Today’s FinCEN release explains that:
- FinCEN took “unprecedented action” to hold the virtual currency exchange accountable for willful violations of the Bank Secrecy Act and its implementing regulations.
- FinCEN’s consent order assesses a civil money penalty of $3.4 billion, imposes a multi-faceted five-year monitorship overseen by FinCEN, and requires significant compliance undertakings, including undertakings to ensure a complete exit of the company from the United States.
For more information, contact a professional with KPMG’s Trade & Customs services:
Doug Zuvich |
John L. McLoughlin |
Andy Siciliano |
Steve Brotherton |
Luis (Lou) Abad |
Irina Vaysfeld |
Amie Ahanchian |
Christopher Young |
Gisele Belotto |
George Zaharatos |
Andy Doornaert |
Jessica Libby Principal E: jlibby@kpmg.com |
| John Anderson Managing Director E: johneanderson@kpmg.com |
Jenna Leigh Glass Managing Director E: jennaleighglass@kpmg.com |
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