Binance, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, and its former CEO Changpeng Zhao have agreed to pay $2.85 billion to the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to resolve allegations that they violated US laws and regulations regarding digital assets.
Binance and Ex-CEO Settle with CFTC for $2.85 Billion Over Crypto Violations
The settlement, approved today by a federal judge, comes a month after Zhao pleaded guilty to charges of money laundering and sanctions evasion in a separate case filed by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Treasury Department.
According to the CFTC, Binance and Zhao operated an unregistered futures and options platform that offered crypto derivatives trading to U.S. customers without complying with the agency’s customer protection, market integrity and anti-fraud rules.
The CFTC also accused Binance and Zhao of failing to implement adequate controls to prevent money laundering, terrorist financing and other illegal activities related to digital assets.
As part of the settlement, Binance and Zhao will pay $1.35 billion in civil penalties and refund $1.35 billion in unfair trading fees they earned from U.S. customers between 2017 and 2020.
In addition, Binance and Zhao will have to implement a comprehensive corporate governance reform, including appointing a board of directors composed of independent members, a compliance committee, and an audit committee.
*This is not investment advice.
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Source: https://en.bitcoinsistemi.com/new-development-in-binance-investigation-us-court-approves-agreement-between-cftc-and-binance/