Regulators in Malta have fined crypto exchange OKX’s European arm, Okcoin Europe, $1.2 million after discovering several anti-money laundering (AML) violations from 2023.
While OKX has improved its AML policies, Malta’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIAU) could not dismiss its compliance violation from 2023.
MiCA Licensed Exchange Fined for Past Compliance Issues
OKX has come under regulatory fire in Europe after Maltese authorities slapped the exchange with a fine over AML failures that took place in 2023. Malta’s Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) issued a $1.2 million fine to the exchange’s European arm, Okcoin Europe, after identifying multiple AML failures in 2023.
OKX is among the first exchanges to be licensed under the EU’s newly enacted Markets in Crypto-Asset (MiCA) regulation. The exchange received its license through its Maltese-based arm in January 2025.
In an April 3 announcement, the FIAU stated that while OKX significantly improved its AML policies in recent months, it “could not ignore” the past failures. Despite acknowledging OKX’s improvements, the FIAU explained that some of the transgressions were “serious and systematic.”
Details of OKX’s AML Violations
According to the FIAU, OKX drafted a business risk assessment (BRA) to identify vulnerabilities and threats in 2023 and found several issues. The regulator explained it identified numerous deficiencies in the BRA and CRA’s methodology, which rendered the exchange unable to access the money laundering risks it was vulnerable to sufficiently and to take the necessary measures to manage these risks.
In its notification, the FIAU detailed:
“Specifically, the Committee expressed greater concerns pertaining to the Company’s past failure to undertake an adequate assessment of the ML/FT risks emanating from its business and its customers, its inability to establish an adequate customer profile, in inadequately monitoring and scrutinising the activity of the majority of the files reviewed, and in failing to report to the FIAU suspicion of ML/FT in one of its customers. All such past administrative breaches could have potentially led to the unintentional facilitation of ML/FT.”
Despite OKX’s vow to exclusively serve European customers, the FIAU noted money laundering risks associated with Okcoin Europe’s exposure to other jurisdictions, stating:
“Despite the company’s strategy adopted to only service European-based customers, it was essential to also consider the potential [money laundering/financing terrorism exposure emanating from other jurisdictions, including from where the sources of the customers’ funding originated.”
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
