Central Bank of Ireland Announces Enforcement Action Against Coinbase Europe for AML Failures

Core Points - The Central Bank of Ireland fined Coinbase Europe Limited €21,464,734 for breaching anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing obligations from April 2021 to March 2025 [1][3] - Coinbase Europe failed to monitor over 30 million transactions, valued at over €176 billion, which accounted for approximately 31% of all transactions during the fault period [2] - The settlement included a monetary penalty and a reprimand, with a 30% discount applied to the original penalty amount [3] Transaction Monitoring Failures - Coinbase Europe did not fully monitor 30,442,437 transactions and failed to adopt necessary internal policies to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing [4] - The company took almost three years to complete the monitoring of impacted transactions, leading to the submission of 2,708 Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) [2][4] - The STRs reported suspicions related to various criminal activities, including money laundering, fraud, drug trafficking, cyber-attacks, and child sexual exploitation [2] Regulatory Importance - Effective transaction monitoring and timely reporting of suspicious activities are crucial for the AML/CFT regulatory regime [2][5] - The Central Bank emphasized that failures in monitoring systems create opportunities for criminals to evade detection, particularly in the crypto sector [5] - It is essential for firms in the crypto services industry to have robust controls in place to identify and report suspicious transactions [5]