The investigation and enforcement of potential sanctions violations by crypto exchanges is an area of focus in the US at present. The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control’s (OFAC) recent settlement with Kraken, a global virtual currency exchange, is the most recent OFAC case demonstrating the risks for virtual currency platforms that process transactions without comprehensive sanctions controls. Kraken agreed to pay USD 362,158.70 to settle its potential civil liability for alleged breaches of the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations and also agreed to invest USD 100,000 in the implementation and improvement of its sanctions compliance controls. The indications are that this enforcement trend will develop across the UK and Europe in 2023, as regulators in both jurisdictions are looking to bring crypto exchanges generally more into the regulatory fold.

https://www.globalinvestigations.blog/cryptocurrency/increasing-us-enforcement-action-for-sanctions-violations-by-crypto-exchanges-likely-to-have-ripple-effect-in-uk-and-europe/