Binance and Justice Department in Talks to End Oversight Requirement

Binance and the U.S. Justice Department are reportedly in talks that could end an oversight requirement that was part of the cryptocurrency exchange’s 2023 settlement of charges it didn’t do enough to prevent money laundering.

The requirement that the company maintain an outside compliance monitor was scheduled to last three years but could end sooner if the two parties strike a deal, Bloomberg reported Tuesday (Sept. 16), citing unnamed sources.

Neither the Justice Department nor Binance immediately replied to PYMNTS’ request for comment.

The Bloomberg report noted that as part of the 2023 settlement, Binance paid one of the biggest corporate fines in U.S. history, $4.3 billion, and the company’s founder, Changpeng Zhao, served a four-month sentence.

Binance is one of several companies the Justice Department is considering releasing from requirements to maintain outside monitors, the report said.

The department has already ended the requirement for three companies, including Glencore, NatWest Group and Austal USA, per the report.

Companies have complained that the oversight is burdensome and expensive, and the new head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Matthew Galeotti, has said that monitors can “interfere with lawful business operations,” according to the report.

It was reported in April that Binance had met with representatives of the Treasury Department to discuss a relaxation of that department’s regulation on the cryptocurrency exchange.

In that case, Binance sought Treasury’s removal of a government-appointed monitor who oversees the company’s compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) laws.

In May, the Securities and Exchange Commission dismissed its civil enforcement action against Zhao and three Binance entities: Binance Holdings Limited, BAM Trading Services and BAM Management US Holdings.

The SEC had filed the charges in 2023, alleging that the crypto asset trading platform committed a variety of securities law violations.

When announcing its decision to dismiss the case, the SEC said the move was appropriate “in the exercise of its discretion and as a policy matter.”

Binance.US said at the time in a blog post that with new leadership at the SEC, under Chairman Paul S. Atkins, “a meaningful shift is underway.”

“His commitment to restoring the agency’s historic role of ensuring market integrity through fair and impartial enforcement is a welcome change,” the company said in the post.