By Hannah Lang
(Reuters) -The New York Department of Financial Services said Digital Currency Group subsidiary Genesis Global trading will pay an $8 million penalty and surrender its license from the regulator after an investigation found significant failings in the company’s anti-money laundering and cybersecurity programs.
Genesis – a cryptocurrency market-maker and brokerage firm – failed to maintain an effective compliance program for anti-money laundering and Bank Secrecy Act requirements and did not file sufficient Suspicious Activity Reports, which requires financial institutions to flag certain transactions to law enforcement.
The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“Genesis Global Trading’s failure to maintain a functional compliance program demonstrated a disregard for the Department’s regulatory requirements and exposed the company and its customers to potential threats,” said NYDFS Superintendent Adrienne Harris in a statement.
As part of the penalty, Genesis will give up its “BitLicense,” which New York requires that cryptocurrency companies obtain to be able to offer certain services within the state. The BitLicense requires that companies comply with know-your-customer, anti-money laundering and capital requirements.
Genesis has held a BitLicense since 2018.
The move follows crypto lender Genesis Global Capital – another DCG entity separate from Genesis Global Trading – filing for bankruptcy last year after it was hit by the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX. That entity did not hold a BitLicense from NYDFS.
(Reporting by Hannah Lang in Washington;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
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