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Cryptocurrency exchange OKX’s European subsidiary, Okcoin Europe Ltd, has been fined $1.2 million (approximately €1.05 million) by Malta’s Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU), which uncovered significant deficiencies in the company’s risk assessment procedures.
The FIAU initially launched a compliance review of OKX in 2023. According to its newly released findings, OKX’s anti-money laundering (AML) risk assessments and transaction monitoring frameworks were deemed inadequate for evaluating threats associated with money laundering and terrorist financing. Alarmingly, the investigation revealed that nearly 50% of the platform’s user accounts lacked proper risk assessments—accounts that accounted for approximately 80% of trading volume, with transactions exceeding $80 million, all of which went insufficiently scrutinized.
Following the audit, OKX took steps to bolster its compliance measures in response to the regulator’s concerns. However, the FIAU determined that violations had indeed occurred and that remedial action did not exempt the company from liability. As a result, the agency imposed a fine of €1.05 million, though OKX retains the right to appeal the decision.
The FIAU highlighted a particularly striking example: one user account exhibited minimal activity in previous years but received deposits totaling $1.8 million within a span of fewer than four months—far exceeding the declared expectations. Despite the clear red flags, OKX failed to investigate the transactions promptly and only froze the account after being unable to obtain supporting documentation in 2022.
In response to these findings, OKX has since implemented improvements to its compliance framework, including proactive steps to enhance its risk controls. As Malta is an EU member state, it remains to be seen whether European Union authorities will initiate further investigations into OKX’s regulatory shortcomings.
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