Canada fines Binance $4.38 million for money laundering violations

(Reuters) - Canada's anti-money laundering agency on Thursday said it had imposed a nearly C$6 million ($4.38 million) fine on cryptocurrency exchange Binance for violating the money laundering and terrorist financing laws.

The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) said Binance had failed to register as a foreign money services business with the intelligence body despite several deadlines.

It added that Binance, which ceased operations in Canada last year, had not reported receiving virtual currency worth C$10,000 or more on 5,902 separate occasions between June 1, 2021 and July 19, 2023.

Binance did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The latest development comes weeks after Binance's former CEO Changpeng Zhao was sentenced to four months in prison after pleading guilty to violating U.S. laws against money laundering.

Binance agreed to a $4.32 billion penalty, and Zhao paid a $50 million criminal fine plus $50 million to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

($1 = 1.3684 Canadian dollars)

(Reporting by Pritam Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Ravi Prakash Kumar)