{"id":196292,"date":"2023-11-25T21:39:11","date_gmt":"2023-11-25T21:39:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/?p=196292"},"modified":"2023-11-25T21:39:11","modified_gmt":"2023-11-25T21:39:11","slug":"binance-onboarded-millions-into-finance-but-forgot-the-paperwork-columbia-professor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/crypto\/binance-onboarded-millions-into-finance-but-forgot-the-paperwork-columbia-professor\/","title":{"rendered":"Binance onboarded millions into finance but forgot the paperwork \u2014 Columbia professor"},"content":{"rendered":"
Recent events surrounding the crypto exchange Binance sparked significant debate about the United States\u2019 crackdown on crypto firms. According to Omid Malekan, adjunct professor at Columbia Business School and author, the Department of Justice\u2019s approach in the case is very different from what is seen in traditional finance.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople who sincerely believe that crypto is some unique enabler of bad people doing bad things don\u2019t understand how the rest of the financial system actually works,\u201d Malekan wrote on X (formerly Twitter), adding that companies that follow Anti-Money Laundering best practices still process large sums of illicit funds.\u00a0\u201cBut that\u2019s all considered OK because somebody did the paperwork.\u201d<\/p>\n
Malekan also argued that many on Wall Street would be jailed if traditional firms were given the same treatment as Binance in similar cases.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they\u2019d been held to the Binance Standard there\u2019d be hundreds of managing directors in jail and less money for shareholder buybacks (or lobbying). But the bankers were smart enough to never question the game.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Despite criticism, Malekan believes the exchange was still \u201cwrong to lie to its customers and wrong for not being compliant.\u201d Binance and its co-founder, Changpeng \u201cCZ\u201d Zhao, recently reached a billionaire settlement with the U.S. government for allegedly allowing individuals engaged in illicit activities to move \u201cstolen funds\u201d through the exchange. CZ stepped down as CEO as part of the settlement.<\/p>\n
Malekan also praised Binance\u2019s contribution to financial inclusion over the past few years: <\/p>\n
“It did a reasonably decent job of onboarding tens of millions of poor, brown, and otherwise underprivileged people into the financial system, something the world\u2019s compliant financial firms have chronically failed to do.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
ICIJ investigation into global money laundering<\/h3>\n
Some of the world\u2019s largest banks allowed trillions of dollars to be laundered by criminals, according to leaked documents obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).<\/p>\n
The investigation, disclosed on Sept. 2020, analyzed over 2,100 suspicious activity reports (SARs) involving transactions worth more than $2 trillion between 1999 and 2017 that were flagged as potential money laundering or criminal activity by financial institutions\u2019 internal compliance officers. Banks facilitating these transactions included major institutions such as the Bank of New York Mellon, Deutsche Bank, and HSBC. <\/p>\n
The ICIJ organized more than 400 journalists from 110 news organizations in 88 countries to investigate banks potentially involved in money laundering.<\/p>\n
Magazine:\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>This is your brain on crypto \u2014 Substance abuse grows among crypto traders<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n