Australia's AUSTRAC implements regulatory measures against cryptocurrency exchanges and remittance businesses

Fifty companies, including cryptocurrency exchanges, have received warnings from Australia's anti-money laundering regulator over possible compliance violations.
On the 17th (local time), the Australian anti-money laundering regulator, the Australian Transaction Reporting
The Australian Securities and Exchange Commission (AUSTRAC) has taken action against 13 remittance service providers and cryptocurrency exchanges, and more than 50 more companies are under investigation for possible compliance breaches.
AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas said in a statement: "We are committed to protecting the privacy of our employees, including those who have been convicted or charged with a serious criminal offence.
"We have refused to renew the registrations of six companies that have been sued or are currently in court because their criminal records have negatively affected the honesty and morality of the employees in question," the company said in a statement.
Additionally, over 50 money transmitters and cryptocurrency exchanges have been issued warnings for possible failure to report suspicious transactions, which could lead to future regulatory action.
AUSTRAC said in a statement about its crackdown that it had "identified systematic instances of under-reporting and non-compliance within the remittance and digital exchange industries."
"Since early last year, we have been working to identify and remove non-compliant vendors while also improving the industry's level of suspicious transaction reporting," Thomas said.
"We have been conducting an investigation to determine whether or not the two companies will be able to comply with the regulatory requirements within the stipulated time frame, and conditions will be imposed on the companies to maintain their registration. If the companies do not comply with the conditions, their registrations will be suspended or cancelled," he added.
The three companies whose registrations were denied are not currently operating in Australia.
Express (FTX's Australian subsidiary) and Zipmex
Two bankrupt cryptocurrency exchanges, including Ethereum Australia, have been removed from the Australian Register of Digital Asset Exchanges.
There are currently 417 digital currency exchanges and 5,112 remittance institutions registered with AUSTRAC in Australia.