AUSTRAC orders Binance Australia audit due to AML concerns

The Australian Financial Intelligence Agency (AUSTRAC) has ordered the Australian branch of Binance to appoint an independent auditor within 28 days. This decision comes after #AUSTRAC discovered "serious concerns" regarding the exchange's anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) measures.

Causes and actions

AUSTRAC stated that it found several major vulnerabilities in the system of Binance Australia. Specifically, the agency pointed out that independent assessments were not commensurate with the scale and risk of the exchange, coupled with a "high employee turnover rate" and a lack of oversight from the local management.

This is a significant blow to #BinanceAustralia , which has already faced numerous legal troubles in this country, including ASIC (Australian Securities and Investments Commission) suing the exchange for misclassifying over 500 retail customers as institutional investors and subsequently revoking the exchange's derivatives license.

Impact and warning

AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas emphasized that global companies must understand local risks to comply with the law. This incident serves as an important reminder for crypto exchanges about the necessity of robust compliance frameworks tailored to each region, to protect consumers and prevent illegal activities. #anhbacong