Nigeria's Financial Watchdog Summons Binance CEO Over Crime Concerns

Nigeria’s Financial Watchdog Summons Binance CEO Over Crime Concerns

Unique Binance CEO Richard Teng must seem before Nigeria’s Dwelling of Representatives Committee on Financial Crimes to resolution questions about his firm’s lax KYC and AML policies, that will perchance also merely beget played a fragment in terrorism financing and money laundering.

Committee Chairman Ginger Onwusibe issued the ultimatum to Teng at some level of a panel final week, per native sources. Teng had seven days to look before the committee, up-to and including nowadays.

Onwusibe further warned Teng that the committee will narrate its constitutional powers “to take appropriate measures” if the CEO fails to comply.

This isn’t the first time this committee has tried to summon Teng. In a letter dated December 12 2023 and signed by Onwusibe, the committee requested Teng’s attendance at a hearing on December 18, 2023.

Onwusibe mentioned it’s the Committee’s responsibility “to supply protection to and protect the country’s funds, especially now that the country is nostril-diving into recession. The allegations of terrorism financing, money laundering and tax evasion amongst others leveled against Binance are damning ample.”

He added: “It’s most likely you’ll perchance now not bustle a firm with over 10 million Nigerians in your platform without paying tax and having a physical build apart of labor the build apart Nigerians can resort their complaints when they trip any build apart with your service. The generation of exploitation is over and all culprits must collected be held accountable.”

Nigeria Sights Binance In Its Crosshairs

Binance has been in Nigerian lawmakers’ crosshairs for a total lot of weeks now because the country makes a targeted effort to grapple with the hazards and advantages of rising adoption in its territory.

In the 2d half of February, Nigerian authorities asked telecommunications companies in the country to block entry to Binance and Coinbase.

At the time, presidential e-book Mr. Bayo Onanuga attributed the naira’s depreciation to market manipulation by crypto exchanges and urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Rate (EFCC) and the central bank to take actions against them.

Nonetheless, many Nigerians in the crypto replace specialise in the responsibility for the naira’s depreciation rests totally with the authorities.

At the cease of February, Nigerian authorities detained two Binance executives and confiscated their passports. Binance retaliated by delisting the naira from its glimpse-to-glimpse (p2p) buying and selling service.

Binance now faces a $10 billion lovely and ongoing investigations into its alleged money laundering offences.

Source : cryptonews.com