OSC Bans Kucoin; Settlement Agreement With Bybit Approved

The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) announced today that a settlement agreement between the OSC and Bybit Fintech limited has been approved. However the commission received orders to permanently ban Kucoin for not complying with Ontario’s securities law.

Kucoin to stop operations in Ontario immediately

In March 2021, the OSC ordered that crypto asset trading platforms that offer trading in derivatives or securities in Ontario must contact the OSC or face enforcement action. The order to do this had a deadline of about three weeks after the announcement.

Bybit and KuCoin failed to contact the OSC by the deadline and continued operations in Ontario. They became caught up with the law and the outcome of the enforced action was announced earlier today.

The OSC obtained orders permanently banning KuCoin from participating in Ontario’s capital markets and required the exchange platform to pay an administrative penalty of CAD $2,000,000 and a further $96,550.35 covering costs of the OSC’s investigation.

However, Bybit went on to cooperate and responded to the OSC’s enforcement action, and committed to engaging in registration discussions. As part of a settlement agreement, Bybit has made a $2,468,910 Payment and a further CAD $10,000 to cover the cost of the OSC’s investigation.

Bybit’s reaction to the outcome of the enforced action

While registration discussions are ongoing, Bybit has said it will not be accepting new accounts for Ontario residents, it won’t offer any new products to existing accounts held by Ontario investors, or carry out any marketing and promotional activities targeted at Ontario residents.

And for the existing Ontario retail investors, Bybit will have investors wind down their positions in certain restricted products, such as contracts that involve leverage, margin, or the extension of credit.

Any funds or assets left in Ontario retail investor accounts may be used for non-restricted products or taken out of the Bybit platform. If registration discussions fail, Bybit confirms that it will stop operations in Ontario.

Bybit and KuCoin both operated unregistered crypto asset trading platforms and enabled Ontario investors to trade securities without a prospectus or any exemption from the prospectus requirements.

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