Brazil’s Central Bank fined Banco Topázio $3.15 million and prohibited it from engaging in over-the-counter foreign exchange transactions involving crypto assets for two years. The regulator cited failures in AML (Anti-Money Laundering) procedures, customer verification, and record-keeping during a period when the bank processed $1.7 billion in related trades. Banco Topázio also failed to report suspicious activity to COAF. Similar restrictions may apply to other firms handling high-risk assets.

ChainThink reports that on May 13, according to Times Brasil, Brazil’s Central Bank’s Administrative Sanctions Procedure Decision Committee imposed a fine of approximately $3.15 million on Banco Topázio and prohibited it from conducting over-the-counter foreign exchange business for virtual asset transactions for the next two years.

Regulators stated that Banco Topázio had inadequate customer due diligence, customer registration, and anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing controls, and failed to report suspicious transactions to Coaf, while processing approximately $1.7 billion in related transactions between October 2020 and September 2021.

Brazilian central bank officials said that similar restrictions could also apply to other institutions engaging in cryptocurrency activities in the future.