According to a news flash from Reuters, authorities in France have opened a probe into allegations involving Binance. Officials are reviewing money laundering, tax fraud, and drug trafficking to determine whether the platform facilitated transactions tied to criminal networks and offered services before securing required registrations.

France is a key territory for Binance within Europe, but the exchange has faced several challenges in the country over the past few years.

The Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office previously launched inquiries into “aggravated money laundering” and unlicensed digital asset services. In mid-2023, local authorities conducted on-site inspections, examining transactions suspected of obscuring proceeds from fraud or organized crime.

Prosecutors have alleged that Binance’s marketing practices reached French users before official licensing took effect in May 2022, raising concerns about compliance failures and insufficient anti-money laundering controls.

Questions about Binance’s European status have grown amid license withdrawals in the Netherlands, Belgium, the UK, and Germany. Executives opted to withdraw specific license applications after facing stringent anti-money laundering requirements, and there are indications that ongoing investigations in France could complicate any single authorization path under the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework. A criminal conviction affecting ownership structures might jeopardize approvals granted by French regulators, posing challenges for European expansion.

Binance has historically positioned France as a pivotal base for European operations, and its leadership once cited the nation’s regulatory environment as a cornerstone for expansion. Ongoing probes, however, bring renewed attention to questions about governance, anti-money laundering protocols, and user security.

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