Canada's financial intelligence unit, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, has imposed an administrative monetary penalty of C$19,552,000 on Peken Global Limited, the Seychelles-incorporated entity that operates the KuCoin cryptocurrency exchange. The penalty was levied on 28 July 2025 and published by the regulator on 25 September 2025. It relates to three violations of the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act — the principal statute governing anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing obligations across all reporting entities in Canada — and is among the largest administrative monetary penalties the regulator has ever imposed on a crypto-asset business operating in the country.
KuCoin is classified under Canadian law as a foreign money services business, meaning it serves Canadian clients from outside the country's borders but is nonetheless subject to full registration and compliance obligations under the Act. FINTRAC's notice of violation sets out that the exchange failed to meet those statutory obligations in three distinct respects. The regulator publishes the details of each violation in its official penalty registry, providing transparency over the nature and severity of the contraventions that gave rise to the financial sanction.
ONE OF THE LARGEST CRYPTO AML PENALTIES IN CANADA
The C$19.55 million figure represents one of the most significant administrative monetary penalties ever applied by FINTRAC against a virtual-asset service provider with Canadian operations. The penalty reflects the regulator's expanding focus on foreign crypto exchanges that attract meaningful volumes of Canadian retail and institutional business yet have historically operated with limited engagement with the country's domestic compliance frameworks. FINTRAC has consistently signalled, through successive enforcement cycles, that registration as a foreign money services business carries substantive, not merely administrative, obligations covering know-your-client procedures, transaction monitoring, and the submission of prescribed reports to the regulator.
KuCoin has contested the decision and filed an appeal with the Federal Court of Canada. The judicial review will determine whether the penalty stands as issued or is subject to modification. The exchange has not publicly disclosed the specific grounds underpinning its Federal Court challenge. While the case proceeds through the courts, the C$19.55 million figure remains the published penalty of record on FINTRAC's enforcement register.
ENFORCEMENT PRESSURE ON VIRTUAL ASSET PROVIDERS INTENSIFIES
The KuCoin action is part of a broader regulatory drive to bring crypto-asset platforms into full alignment with Canada's AML and CFT regime. FINTRAC has stated publicly that it will deploy its full range of enforcement tools — including administrative monetary penalties, notices of violation, and referrals to law enforcement authorities — when reporting entities, whether domestic institutions or foreign operators, fall short of their statutory duties. Foreign exchanges with substantial Canadian user bases have come under particular scrutiny, given the structural complexity of applying domestic oversight frameworks to platforms headquartered or incorporated outside Canada.
For crypto exchanges operating globally, the KuCoin penalty is a pointed reminder that FINTRAC treats foreign money services business status as a complete set of compliance obligations rather than a lighter-touch registration formality. Firms that continue to serve Canadian customers without satisfying the Act's requirements for know-your-client identification, transaction reporting, and compliance programme maintenance now face penalties that can be measured in tens of millions of Canadian dollars — a material operational and reputational consequence for any platform with significant exposure to the Canadian market.