BlockBeats News, April 17th, according to Fortune report, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal wrote to the U.S. Department of Justice and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, requesting an update on the compliance monitoring mechanism regarding Binance, in light of concerns over around $1.7 billion of Iran-related cryptocurrency transactions.
In the letter, Blumenthal stated that the market’s allegations of Binance’s anti-money laundering (AML) measures being “critically insufficient” have been increasing, and requested regulatory agencies to disclose the performance of two independent monitors. The aforementioned monitoring mechanism stems from a 2023 settlement agreement between Binance and the U.S. government, where Binance paid a fine of around $4.3 billion for compliance failures and agreed to undergo independent oversight, which began in 2024.
Reports indicated that Binance had recently dismissed internal investigators who had previously alerted executives to over $1 billion in funds flowing to wallets linked to Iran. Binance responded that the dismissal decision was unrelated to the investigation and emphasized that the company maintains a strict compliance system.
Moreover, the senator’s inquiry comes as the U.S. Department of Justice was reported to be reviewing corporate monitorship programs. Earlier, the media revealed that the Justice Department had paused some corporate monitoring arrangements, including terminating requirements for Glencore and Boeing. Currently, the Binance monitors and relevant regulatory agencies have not publicly responded to this inquiry.
