The Dutch Central Bank has fined Mr. Changpeng Zhao’s (CZ) CEX Binance nearly 3.3 million euros ($3.35 million) for providing services in the Netherlands without being registered with the DNB.
Binance Holdings Ltd. was fined in April 2022 for failing to register with De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) under the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Prevention) Act (Wwft).
According to the DNB, Binance violated Dutch money-laundering laws between May 21, 2020 and December 1, 2021. Binance was issued a public warning on August 18, 2021.
Such violations are punishable by a fine of the third category, with a minimum fine of 2,000,000 euros and a maximum fine of 4,000,000 euros.
With Binance, DNB increased the fine from the base amount due to increased seriousness and culpability. The crypto exchange objected to the 3.325 million euro fine.
The DNB is reviewing Binance’s recently submitted registration application, and the bank has reduced the fine it had intended by 5% because the company has “been relatively transparent about its operations throughout the process.”
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