Crypto exchange Binance expects to pay fines to U.S. authorities to settle regulatory and law-enforcement investigations over its past conduct, the company’s chief strategy officer reportedly said. When Binance began its business, the company was unfamiliar with the rules it needed to comply with in the U.S., the executive explained.
Binance Plans to Settle With US Regulators
Binance’s chief strategy officer, Patrick Hillmann, revealed Wednesday that the cryptocurrency exchange expects to pay fines to settle existing U.S. regulatory and law-enforcement investigations, the Wall Street Journal reported.
He explained that in its early days, Binance was unfamiliar with the legal framework and regulations in the U.S. to mitigate the risk of bribery and corruption, money laundering, and economic sanctions.
The Binance executive stated that the crypto exchange is currently working with regulators to identify potential “remediations” the company has to go through “to make amends” for its past conduct. He expects the outcome to be a fine but cautioned that there could be more. “We just don’t know. That is for regulators to decide,” he emphasized.
Several U.S. authorities are reportedly investigating Binance. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is reportedly probing the crypto exchange over violations of U.S. money-laundering laws. According to reports, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is probing the company over the BNB crypto token while the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is investigating whether Binance offered cryptocurrency derivatives to U.S. clients without registration.
While noting that he could not estimate the size of the fines or when Binance might reach a resolution with U.S. authorities, the Binance chief strategy officer said his company is “highly confident and feeling really good about where those discussions are going.” He opined:
It will be a good moment for our company because it allows us to put it behind us.
Hillmann noted that it was a “very confusing time” for Binance to understand the expectations of U.S. regulators and their oversight of the crypto sector. Binance is currently not available to U.S. investors. However, the crypto exchange has a partner platform that serves U.S. crypto traders called Binance US, a separate entity operated by BAM Trading Services.
Recently, the SEC has taken action against several crypto companies, including Kraken over its staking program, Paxos over its stablecoin Binance USD (BUSD) issuance, and Terraform Labs for defrauding investors.
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