Kucoin appeals to a Canadian enforcement measure in which the exchange was accused of failing to register as a money-service business and fails to maintain proper defense against money laundering, a case that led to a penalty of more than $ 19 million ($ 14 million US).
This unusually large penalty from the financial transactions and reports Analysis Center of Canada (Fintrac) was introduced after finding Seychelles-based Peken Global Limited, which operates as Kucoin, did not report on large crypto transactions and not marked suspicious transactions that may have involved money laundering or terrorist funding,
The regulator said Kucoin did not report major transactions on nearly 3,000 apartments from 2021 to 2024, and in 33 cases “did not report on financial transactions where there were reasonable reasons for suspecting that the transactions were related to the Commission or the attempt on a money washing or a terrorist activity financing.”
Kucoin said it presented an appeal with the Federal Court in Canada “on both material and procedural reasons.”
“While Kucoin respects the decision-making process and remains obliged to legislative compliance and transparency, it disagrees with both the finding that Kucoin is a foreign money service and the imposed penalty that Kucoin maintains is excessive and punitive in the wild,” the company said in a Thursday statement.
This Fintrac punishment represents most of the agency’s fines in the past year, it noted, after imposing fines 23 times for a total of $ 25 million during that period. Kucoin’s alleged violations are said to have been serious, and in the event of a failure to report suspicious transactions, “serious.”
Kucoin has been punished in various jurisdictions in similar cases, including one from the Ontario Securities Commission in 2023. In the United States, the company settled with the Ministry of Justice earlier this year and paid almost $ 300 million and pleaded guilty of an illegal operating tax and agreed to stay out of the country.
Read more: South Korea is planning sanctions against Kucoin, Others: Report
