OKX Fined $1.2M by Malta Regulator Over Past AML Violations

Highlights:

• OKX was fined $1.2M by Malta for past anti-money laundering breaches.
• FIAU flagged OKX’s onboarding, monitoring, and risk assessment failures.
• OKX recently improved compliance and hired a new legal officer amid regulatory scrutiny.
  

Malta’s Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) has fined cryptocurrency exchange platform OKX €1.1 million ($1.2 million) for breaches of anti-money laundering laws. Okcoin Europe, the crypto exchange’s local branch, received the penalty after an audit conducted in April 2023 showed significant violations.

The FIAU discovered that OKX did not even assess certain potential risks within its product offering. It also failed to perform risk assessments during the onboarding process in 46% of the randomly selected client files. In addition, the exchange failed to exhibit a proper system of tracking transactions and reporting suspicious activities.

Although the violations occurred as early as 2023, the FIAU noted that the problems on which the adverse decision was based were too serious to ignore. Part of them was labeled ‘systematic’ failures. However, it noted that OKX voluntarily made several changes in the course of the month following the inspection.

According to Bloomberg, OKX has been fined €1.1 million (~$1.2 million) by Malta’s Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) for violating anti-money laundering regulations. The penalty follows an April 2023 on-site compliance inspection, which revealed multiple…

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) April 4, 2025

Regulatory Pressure Continues Worldwide

While the Malta fine may be seen as a more new enforcement action against OKX, the exchange has been under a broader regulatory spotlight. Earlier this year, in February, the parent company of the platform agreed to pay $500 million to the US authorities. The charges surrounding the case related to improper registration involving money-transmitting activities.

In Southeast Asia, Thailand’s securities regulator brought a criminal complaint in March. The regulators claimed that OKX had been conducting operations without proper licenses from the local authorities. These come as more additions to other global regulatory hurdles that the crypto firm is facing.

At the same time, OKX has attracted the attention of European Union regulators. Some questions arise as to whether its Web3 tools were utilized for money laundering by the hackers. The hackers were able to transfer $100 million worth of stolen Ether through OKX’s proxies. The incident was a result of the $1.5 billion Bybit hack. Following the allegations made regarding money laundering, OKX disabled several functions that were utilized during the laundering process.

Compliance Improvements and MiCA Authorization

Despite the loopholes in the past operations of OKX, the platform has ensured to implement changes to its operations. In the last 18 months, the exchange has implemented a comprehensive compliance structure. This includes enhanced technology, new policies and regular monitoring of systems. An OKX spokesperson affirmed that the changes were made prior to any enforcement action being taken against the exchange.

In January, it received MiCA pre-authorization through its Malta hub. The license enables the firm to provide its services throughout the European Economic Area in accordance with new EU crypto rules. This puts OKX in the group of the first crypto platforms prepared for legal expansion under the MiCA law.

We’re proud to be the first global exchange to secure a MiCA license!

Our fully regulated crypto products are now set to roll out to 400M+ people across Europe.

This is a win for crypto, a milestone for regulation, and a step toward mass adoption.

Learn more:… pic.twitter.com/SpFVSeMGCK

— OKX (@okx) January 27, 2025

Earlier this year, OKX was also penalized €304,000 by the Malta Financial Services Authority. The fine was a result of two different governance concerns. As part of the agreement, OKX further agreed to engage an outside firm to analyze its business governance structures.

In order to further enhance its legal capability, OKX recently recruited Linda Lacewell to serve as the firm’s chief legal officer. Lacewell formerly served as the director of the financial department for New York and helped OKX during the US investigation. The appointment is being viewed as an effort to strengthen compliance and meet growing global scrutiny.