FCA fines Coinbase subsidiary for lax anti-money laundering controls
UK’s financial regulatory body has fined CB Payments Limited (CPBL), a Coinbase subsidiary, £3.5 million ($4.5 million)
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), UK’s financial regulatory body, has fined CB Payments Limited (CPBL), a Coinbase subsidiary, £3.5 million ($4.5 million) for inadequate anti-money laundering controls, marking it FCA’s first action against a crypto trading firm.
CBPL is a platform for trading cryptoassets within Coinbase Group and the FCA stated how after an FCA visit in October 2020, it voluntarily agreed to enhance its financial crime controls. The agreement required CBPL to halt accepting new high-risk customers until the issue was resolved. Nevertheless, the company continued providing e-money services to 13,416 such customers, with nearly a third of them depositing $24.9 million. The fund in turn facilitated various cryptoasset transactions through other Coinbase entities, amounting to approximately $226 million in total. The FCA reported that this repeated breaches of the voluntary agreement went undetected for about two years.
Despite these breaches, CBPL agreed to a resolution, receiving a 30% reduction on its fine—lowering it from £5 million to £3.5 million. Coinbase, for its part, reiterated its commitment to working with top financial regulators like the FCA to ensure their platform remains compliant, secure, and trusted by customers.
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