Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU IND) issues notices for non-compliance to 25 offshore Virtual Digital Assets Service providers (VDA SPs) under Section 13 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PML) Act, 2002
Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU IND) issues notices for non-compliance to 25 offshore Virtual Digital Assets Service providers (VDA SPs) under Section 13 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PML) Act, 2002
As part of recent part of compliance action against the such entities, Financial Intelligence Unit India (FIU IND) has issued notices for non-compliance to the following 25 offshore Virtual Digital Assets Service Providers (VDA SPs) under Section 13 of the Prevention of Money Laundering (PML) Act, 2002:
S. No
Name of the Offshore VDA service provider
Name and address details
1
Huione
Huione Group
Haowang Guarantee (Formerly Known as Huione Guarantee) ;
Huione Pay PLC; and
Huione Crypto
– 62, Norodom Blvd, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
2
BC.game
BlockDance B.V.- 158182, located at Emancipatie Boulevard Dominico F. “Don” Martina 31, Curaçao)
3
Paxful
Paxful Inc. – 3422 Old Capitol Trail, PMP #989, Wilmington, Delaware, 19808, United States
4
Changelly
Changelly Ltd – 18/F East Town, No.41 Lockhart Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong.
5
CEX.IO
CEX.IO Ltd – 100 SE 2nd St, Suite 3852 Miami, Florida, 33131, USA
CEX.IO Ltd-2nd Floor, 1-5 Clerkenwell Road, London, EC1M 5PA, United Kingdom,
6
LBank
LBK Blockchain Co. Limited – Meadow House, P.O. Box 116, Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands
7
Youhodler
YouHodler SA – St. Vincent and the Grenadines, specifically at Hinds Building, Kingstown / Lausanne, Switzerland. Specifically, it’s located at Avenue du Théâtre 7, Lausanne, 1005
8
BingX
BingX Limited – Johnson’s Ghut, Road Town, British Virgin Islands
9
PrimeXBT
PrimeXBT Trading Services LLC – 1st Floor, Meridian Place Choc Estate, Castries, Saint Lucia
10
BTCC
BTCC UK Limited – Wisteria Grange Barn, Pikes End, Pinner, London, HA5 2EX, England, UK
11
Coinex
CoinEx Exchange – Unit 3A, 12/F, Kaiser Centre, No. 18 Centre Street, Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong
12
Remitano
Babylon Solutions Limited – 391A Orchard Road #12-02 Ngee Ann City, Singapore
13
Poloniex
Polo Digital Assets Ltd – 99 High Street, Suite 1701, Boston, MA 02110
14
BitMex
HDR Global Trading Ltd – Global Gateway 8, Rue de la Perle, Providence Mahé, Seychelles
15
Bitrue
Bitrue Ltd – Centro Bianco, 73 Upper Paya Lebar Road, Suite 06-01C, Singapore, 534818
16
LCX
LCX AG – Herrengasse 6, 9490 Vaduz, Liechtenstein
17
Probit Global
ProBit Global Services Limited – Suite 9, Ansuya Estate, Revolution Avenue, Victoria, Mahé, Seychelles
18
BTSE
BTSE Holdings Limited – V. Nagevidiaus g. 3, Vilnius, Lithuania
Vistra Corporate Services Centre, Wickhams Cay II, Road Town, Tortola, VG1110, British Virgin Islands.
19
HIT BTC
Hit Solution Limited – Unit 19, 7/F., One Midtown No.11 Hoi Shing Road, Tsuen Wan Hong Kong
20
LocalCoinSwap
LocalCoinSwap – Wan Chai, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong
21
AscendEx
AscendEX Ltd – 114 Lavender Street, #09-88, Court Hub 2, Singapore
22
Phemex
PMX International Limited – 1 Irving Place, #08-11, The Commerze@Irving, Singapore
23
ZooMex
Zoomex Pte Ltd – Vistra Cayman Trust Limited, Grand Pavilion, Hibiscus Way, 802 West Bay Road, Cayman Islands
24
CoinCola
CoinCola Limited – Rm D 16/F One Capital Place 18 Luard RD,Hong Kong
25
CoinW
CoinW Pte Ltd.- 33 UBI Avenue 3 #08-43 Vertex, Singapore
Further, the Director FIU IND, in exercise of powers under Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, has also issued notices to the aforesaid entities with respect to takedown of the application/URLs for public access which have been found to be operating illegally without complying with the relevant provisions of the PML Act, 2002 in India.
Till date 50 VDA SPs have registered with FIU IND. However, from time to time the entities which are catering to Indian users but not getting registered and thus remain outside the AML/CFT framework are identified by the FIU IND.
Virtual Digital Assets Service Providers (VDA SPs) were brought into the ambit of Anti Money Laundering/Counter Financing of Terrorism (AML-CFT) framework under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PML) Act, 2002 in March 2023.
The Virtual Digital Asset Service Providers (VDA SPs) operating in India (whether offshore or onshore) and engaged in activities like exchange between virtual digital assets and fiat currencies, transfer of virtual digital assets, safekeeping or administration of virtual digital assets or instruments enabling control over virtual digital assets etc. are required to be registered with FIU IND as Reporting Entity and comply with the set of obligations as mandated under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) 2002. These obligations are activity-based and are not contingent on physical presence of the entity in India. The regulation casts reporting, record keeping, and other obligations on the VDA SPs under the PML Act which also includes registration with the FIU IND.
It must be mentioned that the Crypto products and NFTs are unregulated and can be highly risky. There may be no regulatory recourse for any loss from such transactions.