Syed Rahman talks about crypto exchanges’ sanctions compliance obligations

Reuters asked for Syed Rahman’s thoughts as part of its investigation into allegations that the crypto exchange Binance continued to process trades by clients in Iran despite US sanctions.

The report detailed how crypto traders had used their Binance accounts up until September last year and only lost access to the exchange after it tightened up its anti-money laundering checks. Syed emphasised the importance of compliance for crypto exchanges.

The Reuters article stated that Iranian traders should not have had any access to Binance as, in 2018, the US had reimposed sanctions on Iran. Those sanctions had been suspended three years earlier, when Iran reached agreement with the world’s major powers over its nuclear capability.

Binance, which is the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, had told traders in Iran in November 2018 that it could no longer serve them and advised them to liquidate their accounts.

Yet Reuters spoke to traders in Iran who said they had been able to bypass the ban.

Syed told Reuters that crypto exchanges are expected to have measures in place to ensure they comply with sanctions. You can read Syed's comments here.

Featured at: Reuters