Block, Inc., announced Thursday that it had reached a settlement of $40 million with the New York Department of Financial Services. This was due to “significant failures in Block’s anti-money launderery compliance program.”
NYDFS noted that Jack Dorsey’s company has accepted to have an independent observer after it violated the Department of Money Transmitters and Virtual Currency Rules.
NYDFS determined that Block’s company failed to perform “adequate due diligence on customers” and implement adequate systems for the prevention of money laundering and illegal activity.
The NYDFS stated that Block’s services are “vulnerable” to criminal exploitation. They argued that Block’s “lax approach” to Bitcoin transactions allows anonymous Bitcoin transactions to escape scrutiny.
In a recent statement, NYDFS superintendent Adrienne A. Harris stated that “Compliance must be able to keep up with the growth of an organization.”
The so-called BitLicenseBlock’s Cash App was regulated by the NYDFS in 2018 as a virtual-currency business.
Cash App: Last Year Endless possibilities The company is promoting free P2P Bitcoin transactions, but also utilizing other cryptocurrency-based services.
Block’s spokesperson said Decrypt The firm has committed significant resources to compliance and is dedicated to the promotion of a healthy and safe financial system."This marks the resolution of all previously pending state money transmission license matters," the spokesperson said. "Block did not admit to any of the findings in the document, and we are pleased to put this matter behind us."
In early Thursday trading, Block's share price was down 3.7%, according to Yahoo Finance data. The share price is down 36% for the year.
James Rubin, Editor
