Binance Pays USD 2.25 Million Fine for PMLA Violations in India

The ban imposed on the international crypto exchange Binance in India has been lifted. Binance has registered with the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) in the country and has also paid a fine of $22.5 lakh. This fine was imposed in June on this exchange for violating the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Access to the exchange’s website has opened for Binance users in the country. Binance This is the 19th international license for Binance. It already has licenses to do business in Sweden, Dubai, Kazakhstan and France. Binance CEO, Richard Teng said that the exchange is aware of the potential in the country’s virtual digital assets (VDA) market. He said, “Our registration with FIU is an important milestone in the exchange’s journey. This will enable us to provide our services to Indian users.”

Binance’s registration with FIU could have been completed in May. However, during the investigation of this exchange, the authorities found that it had not complied with the PMLA law. Recently, Binance received a notice to pay GST of Rs 772 crore in the country. This notice was issued by the General of GST Intelligence (DGGI). The reason for this notice is a fee collected from the traders of the country. The amount of this fee is about Rs 4,000 crore and it was transferred to the company abroad. The Ahmedabad zonal unit of DGGI had caught a discrepancy in the functioning of Binance.

The exchange said in a blog post in June that it has not opened its headquarters and is looking for a location for it. The central government has said that it has no plans to regulate the crypto segment. Rules have been made for this segment in the European Union (EU) and UAE. In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary had said that there is no proposal to make a law for the purpose of regulating the purchase and sale of virtual assets in the near future. MP GM Harish Balayogi had asked whether the government has any proposal to bring rules to regulate the crypto segment.