The Financial Services Authority of Japan has imposed penalties on three cryptocurrency exchanges following inspections of trading platforms in the country. Two of them have been ordered to suspend operations. Officials are not satisfied with the measures implemented to prevent money laundering and systemic risks.
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FSHO, Eternal Link Suspended, Lastroots Told to Improve
The sanctioned crypto platforms – FSHO, Eternal Link, and Lastroots – have received orders to improve their business practices. These were issued by Japan’s financial regulator as part of the ongoing inspections of cryptocurrency exchanges. According to the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the penalties have been imposed because of unsatisfactory procedures to prevent money laundering and minimize systems risk.
The Japanese financial regulator has ordered two of the trading platforms to suspend their operations for two months. Eternal Link should halt activities from Friday, April 6, and FSHO was told to do the same on April 8, Reuters reports. Lastroots has received an order to improve its practices. Japan’s Minister of Finance is expected to present the full results of the investigations carried out by the FSA.
In March, FSA suspended two exchanges – the Nagoya-based Bit Station and again FSHO, which was ordered to terminate services until April 7. The agency said its operator was not performing thorough checks on large-scale transactions and had not implemented necessary measures “to run the exchange in a decent and assured way”. According to Japanese press, Bit Station was penalized because its senior officials were implicated in embezzlement of clients’ crypto deposits. Similar charges have led to the arrests of four high-ranking representatives of two cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea.
In early February, FSA
