OKX Faces €1 Million Fine from Malta Over Compliance Failures

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In what can only be described as a rather stiff financial slap on the wrist, Malta’s Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) has decided to show OKX a thing or two about how to run a compliant business, imposing a fine of €1.054 million (that’s approximately $1.155 million, if you’re feeling particularly curious today). This hefty sum is being levied for a catalogue of blunders, most notably a rather lacking assessment of the risks surrounding money laundering and terrorism financing. One wonders if the FIAU was perhaps hoping for a *slightly* more professional approach to such matters.

It seems that during an investigation that took place in 2023 (yes, they do remember the past, apparently), the FIAU discovered that OKX had been a little too lax with its customer risk assessments (CRAs)—you know, the things that determine if a customer is a well-meaning investor or possibly funding a highly suspicious secret lair in the Alps. Nearly half of the customer files reviewed lacked a proper CRA when the users first signed up. OKX, however, maintained that these assessments were done at the onboarding stage. Ah, but—surprise, surprise—many customers had already deposited sizable sums before anyone bothered to assess their risk. Who could have seen that coming? Certainly not the FIAU!

Now, before you get all sympathetic for poor OKX, the FIAU did acknowledge some improvements the exchange had made over the past 18 months. But, as is often the case in these scenarios, those previous transgressions—deemed “serious and systematic” by the FIAU—couldn’t simply be brushed under the rug with a cheery “Well, we’ve learned our lesson!” So, the fine stands, and one imagines the company will be sitting down for a rather grim chat with their accountants.

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2025-04-06 09:37