 "FIU issues notices to 25 offshore crypto platforms for PMLA non-compliance")
The Financial Intelligence Unit-India (FIU-IND) on Wednesday said it has issued notices to 25 offshore Virtual Digital Asset Service Providers (VDA SPs) for operating in India without complying with the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
According to the official press statement, the offshore entities served notices include Huione (Cambodia), BC.Game (Curaçao), Paxful (USA), Changelly (Hong Kong), CEX.IO (USA/UK), LBank (British Virgin Islands), YouHodler (Switzerland/St Vincent), BingX (British Virgin Islands), PrimeXBT (Saint Lucia), BTCC (UK), CoinEx (Hong Kong), Remitano (Singapore), Poloniex (USA), BitMex (Seychelles), Bitrue (Singapore), LCX (Liechtenstein), Probit Global (Seychelles), BTSE (Lithuania/British Virgin Islands), HitBTC (Hong Kong), LocalCoinSwap (Hong Kong), AscendEx (Singapore), Phemex (Singapore), ZooMex (Cayman Islands), CoinCola (Hong Kong) and CoinW (Singapore). These platforms were found catering to Indian users without registering with FIU-IND, as required under the anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) framework.
The statement added that under Section 13 of the PMLA, FIU-IND has issued non-compliance notices, while separate directions under the Information Technology Act, 2000 have been issued to initiate takedown of their apps and URLs accessible in India.
So far, 50 VDA SPs have registered with FIU-IND. Regulators continue to flag unregistered offshore entities that remain outside the ambit of AML/CFT rules despite actively engaging with Indian customers.
Virtual Digital Asset Service Providers were brought under the purview of PMLA in March 2023, requiring them to register as reporting entities and fulfil obligations such as record-keeping and reporting of suspicious transactions. The rules apply irrespective of whether the entity has a physical presence in India.
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