Allan Endresz, the founder of digital currency Zucoins, has voiced his criticism against a former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulator’s statements on platform X. The regulator had implied that the compliance violations admitted to by crypto exchange Binance and its ex-CEO were unique to the cryptocurrency industry. In retort, Endresz highlighted that traditional banks have often been used as conduits for illicit activities such as money laundering.
Endresz expressed his confusion in a series of statements: “I’m a bit confused. Is your post about Binance or a historical account of HSBC and JP Morgan? Sorry. It must be about Binance, as no banking officers ever went to jail for their crimes over the last 50 years.”
On November 21, Binance reached an agreement with the U.S. government, consenting to pay $4.3 billion in penalties to resolve past compliance issues, according to an official press release. As part of this resolution, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the company’s CEO, agreed to resign from his position and pleaded guilty to failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering (AML) program – a violation of the Bank Secrecy Act.
John Reed Stark, former chief of the SEC Office of Internet Enforcement, opined on X that by emphasizing that neither Binance nor CZ misused any customer funds, the crypto industry is attempting to downplay the severity of these violations. Stark stated that by not maintaining adequate AML safeguards, Binance “facilitated and enabled” activities such as terror financing and scams.
In 2012, it was announced by the U.S. Department of Justice that HSBC had agreed to forfeit $1.256 billion and pay an additional $665 million in penalties for not maintaining adequate AML protections. This negligence led to Mexican drug cartels using HSBC to launder their money, according to a press release. “HSBC’s blatant failure to implement proper anti-money laundering controls facilitated the laundering of at least $881 million in drug proceeds through the U.S. financial system,” stated Loretta Lynch, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, at that time.
JPMorgan Chase recently agreed to pay a $290 million class-action settlement to Jeffrey Epstein accusers after facing allegations that the bank ignored Epstein’s involvement in sex trafficking, as reported by Reuters.
In a blog post dated November 21 about its settlement, Binance acknowledged the company’s responsibility for historical compliance violations and expressed its intention to move forward from this “challenging” chapter.
Endresz is not only the founder of Zucoins but also has over 30 years of experience in the finance and technology industries. Zucoins is the native token on the SplitChain network, as per information available on the company’s website.
