Canada’s financial intelligence agency has fined the operator of KuCoin C$19.6 million (US$14.09 million), the largest anti-money laundering penalty in the country’s history.
The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) said Seychelles-based Peken Global Limited, which operates the crypto exchange, failed to register as a foreign money services business and neglected to report nearly 3,000 large virtual currency transactions between 2021 and 2024.
KuCoin strongly denied the agency’s findings, calling the fine “excessive and punitive.” In a statement, the company said it has submitted an appeal to the Federal Court of Canada and disputed FINTRAC’s classification of it as a Foreign Money Services Business under Canadian law.
FINTRAC’s enforcement arrives ahead of a crucial audit by the Financial Action Task Force in November, as Canada faces international scrutiny over its financial crime safeguards.
This is not the first regulatory run-in for the crypto exchange. In 2023, the Ontario Securities Commission issued its own penalties against KuCoin for operating without registration. Earlier this year, the company also settled with the U.S. Department of Justice for nearly $300 million, pleading guilty to running an unlicensed money services business and agreeing to cease operations in the United States.
The agency said it issued 23 penalties totaling $25 million during that period, with KuCoin’s violations described as particularly “serious” and in some cases “severe.”
The operation, carried out by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), dismantled the platform entirely, marking the first time Canadian law enforcement has shut down a cryptocurrency exchange.
The fine comes as Canadian authorities have confirmed the country’s largest cryptocurrency seizure to date, taking control of more than 56 million Canadian dollars (about $40 million) in assets from the little-known exchange TradeOgre.
