Austria’s Financial Market Authority has prohibited KuCoin’s EU exchange from conducting new business, citing deficiencies in internal organizational requirements tied to anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist financing, and sanctions oversight. The Vienna-based entity is now restricted from onboarding new customers or launching new products until critical compliance functions are adequately filled.
KuCoin said the issue followed the recent departure of two compliance professionals responsible for AML and sanctions roles, adding that recruitment efforts were already underway and some onboarding activities had been voluntarily paused. The exchange emphasized that the matter is operational in scope and not expected to materially alter its broader European expansion strategy.
The intervention comes only months after the firm secured a MiCA license, underscoring the tighter supervisory environment emerging across the European Union. Regulators are increasingly signaling that authorization under MiCA does not shield firms from ongoing governance scrutiny, particularly around staffing and compliance infrastructure, as Europe moves toward a more standardized and enforcement-driven crypto regulatory framework.
