KuCoin operator Peken Global ordered to pay $500K penalty by US court

A US federal court has entered a permanent injunction against Peken Global Limited, operator of KuCoin, and ordered it to pay a $500,000 civil penalty.

Permanent injunction against KuCoin operator Peken Global

A US federal court in the Southern District of New York has entered a consent order against Peken Global Limited, the Turks and Caicos Islands-incorporated company that operates the KuCoin cryptocurrency exchange. According to cftc.gov, the order was announced by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and targets Peken Global for allowing US participants to trade on its electronic trading and order-matching system without registering with the CFTC as a foreign board of trade.

The consent order permanently enjoins Peken Global from committing future violations and requires the company to pay a $500,000 civil monetary penalty.

The court determined that disgorgement would not be sought or imposed, citing Peken Global's cooperation in a CFTC investigation and related proceedings. Those proceedings include the criminal action United States v. Flashdot Limited, et al., No. 24-cr-168 (S.D.N.Y.), in which Peken Global was already subject to a forfeiture order under a consent preliminary order of forfeiture/money judgment.

In the parallel criminal case, Peken Global pleaded guilty to one count of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business.

The court separately entered an order of voluntary dismissal with prejudice, dismissing all CFTC claims against the three remaining defendants: Mek Global Limited, PhoenixFin PTE Ltd., and Flashdot Limited.

Together, the consent order and the dismissal resolve all claims the CFTC had brought against Peken Global and the dismissed defendants in its complaint, originally filed on March 26, 2024. Counts II through V of that complaint against Peken Global were also dismissed with prejudice under the consent order.

Source: Google News TC — Crime