Binance, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange platform, has been under preliminary investigation since February 2022 for alleged regulatory non-compliance and aggravated money laundering.
The investigation, confirmed by the Paris Prosecutor’s Office, is being conducted by the French Judiciary’s financial investigation service and the Specialized Interregional Jurisdiction of Paris (JIRS).
The French branch of Binance is suspected of failing to meet its obligations concerning ‘Know Your Customer’ (KYC) procedures, which financial services are required to implement to prevent their platforms from being used for money laundering.
“Binance is committed to full legal compliance in France and all the countries where it operates,” said a Binance spokesperson. “While we can’t comment on the specifics of ongoing investigations, we assure our customers that their information is securely stored and only shared with authorities under legally justified requests”.
These allegations are similar to some of the charges made against Binance by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) earlier this month.
The SEC has accused Binance of illegally offering its services to U.S. clients, noting that Binance did not even require all its customers to complete KYC documents until August 2021. The SEC asserts that, at that time, only 25 million of Binance’s 62 million users worldwide had filled in these documents, and that Binance had a large number of clients who had not completed these documents as late as mid-2022.
Furthermore, the company is suspected of violating French law regulating cryptocurrency platforms, which, since 2019, has made many activities contingent on obtaining the status of “digital asset service provider”. This registration with the French Financial Markets Authority (AMF) is essential to be able to advertise to potential French clients.
Binance, which has been offering its services in France since 2020, is suspected of having purchased advertising to promote its activity in the country before being properly registered with the AMF in May 2022.
These allegations raise further questions about the company’s compliance with regulations in various jurisdictions.
This investigation is part of the broader trend of regulatory scrutiny of cryptocurrency platforms worldwide as authorities attempt to curb illegal activities and ensure consumer protection.
“We respect all laws in France and all countries where we operate,” a Binance spokesperson told, adding that they fully cooperated with the authorities during a recent visit to their offices.
This news coincides with Binance‘s recent announcement of its withdrawal from the Netherlands after failing to obtain a license demonstrating compliance with the country’s anti-money laundering (AML) guidelines.
