Binance signs MoU with Kazakhstan to fight financial crime

Global cryptocurrency exchange Binance has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Financial Monitoring Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan as a part of its global law enforcement training program.

The program, which involves officials from regulatory and law enforcement organizations worldwide, aims to strengthen industry cooperation with national and international law enforcement in the fight against financial crime and cybercrime.

The program further aims to identify and block digital assets obtained illegally and used to launder criminal proceeds and finance terrorism.

Kazakhstan has emerged as one of the leading crypto nations for Bitcoin (BTC) mining and in recent times, the Central Asian nation has also been developing favorable crypto regulations such as allowing crypto exchanges to open bank accounts, and even looking to legalize crypto use more broadly. Binance obtained an in-principle approval to operate in Kazakhstan earlier in August this year.

Gleb Kostarev, regional head of Asia for Binance told Cointelegraph that Kazakhstan’s pro-crypto stance was one of the key reasons behind the partnership. He explained:

“The government of Kazakhstan has significantly adjusted the relevant legislation, legitimizing activities in the field of mining and circulation of cryptocurrencies. We see great potential in the country for further growth of the industry, and as leaders, we will be happy to contribute to this.”

The Binance law enforcement training program has been conducted in Israel, Canada, Brazil, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and Norway. The program was officially launched on Sept. 26, but the company’s investigations team has been holding workshops for law enforcement for the past year.

Related: Binance signs MOU with Kazakhstan to further crypto adoption and regulation

In the absence of any robust crypto regulatory framework among the majority of the countries, the expansion of crypto exchanges like Binance in these jurisdictions comes with its own challenges. Thus, with the help of the training program, Binance hopes to raise awareness among law enforcement agencies and officials to develop cooperation at a global level.

The crypto exchange’s focus on compliance and regulations comes after facing several warnings and investigations from financial regulators around the globe. However, the exchange has managed to improve and even returned to several jurisdictions such as Italy and France where it was deemed illegal to operate.

Binance attributed its recent regulatory approvals in France, Italy and Spain to the compliance measures it has undertaken recently.