The Indian watchdog has issued compliance notices to nine cryptocurrency exchanges and is seeking to block URLs.

According to an announcement on December 28, India’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) took strict action against nine foreign virtual asset service providers (VASPs) that did not comply with India’s Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing (AML-CFT) Act. I’m drunk. .

These companies, which include major players like Binance, KuCoin, and Huobi, have been served show cause notices under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), marking a significant expansion of India’s enforcement of financial regulations in the digital asset space.

unregistered task

This move follows the inclusion of VASPs in the AML-CFT framework in March 2023, highlighting India’s commitment to regulating the rapidly evolving virtual asset sector.

The FIU’s action targets entities operating without registration and PMLA compliance, and requires a response to account for their operations with respect to Indian users.

The list of entities issuing notices includes well-known global companies such as Binance, KuCoin, Huobi, Kraken, Gate.io, Bittrex, Bitstamp, MEXC Global, and Bitfinex, all of which have multiple global addresses.

These organizations, belonging to various jurisdictions including Seychelles, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, United States, Luxembourg, and Cayman Islands, are currently being investigated for their activities involving Indian users.

Further tightening the regulatory noose, the FIU IND director asked the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to block the URLs of these companies for not complying with Indian laws and operating illegally.

31 registered corporations

This step is part of broader efforts to protect the Indian financial system from the risks of unregulated virtual asset trading.

This development highlights the Indian government’s stance to ensure that all VASPs, regardless of physical presence, comply with local laws when targeting Indian users.

Currently, 31 VASPs have been successfully registered with FIU and are fully compliant with the AML and CFT frameworks. This action against nine offshore entities sends a clear message about India’s intention to strictly enforce financial regulation, especially given the growing importance of virtual assets.

Compliance requirements go beyond registration to include rigorous reporting, record keeping, and PMLA compliance.