Coinbase Under German Scanner, Asked to Disclose Details on Business Practices

The German financial watchdog intends to verify if Coinbase is operating in accordance with the country’s banking laws.

Written by Radhika Parashar, Edited by Siddharth Suvarna | Updated: 9 November 2022 13:53 IST

Coinbase Under German Scanner, Asked to Disclose Details on Business Practices

Photo Credit: Reuters

Coinbase has revealed to the media that the company is working to address the issue

Highlights

Coinbase bagged operational approval in Germany last year
Germany is cautiously approaching crypto sector
Coinbase is required to provide accurate audit certificates in Germany

Coinbase crypto exchange has found itself in a soup with the German financial authorities for allegedly violating the rules that classifies the company as a ‘proper business organisation' there. The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority of Germany (BaFIN) has issued an order asking Coinbase to provide details on the business practices of its local arm. The German financial watchdog intends to verify if Coinbase is operating in accordance with the country's banking laws.

The German arm of Coinbase is required to have arrangements for managing, monitoring and, controlling risks to ensure that its financial situation can be always computed with sufficient accuracy.

“An audit of the annual financial statements revealed organisational deficiencies at the institute. The regularity of the business organisation was not given in all audited areas,” BaFIN said in a statement.

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As per the German regulations, its local Coinbase arm must be able to provide audit certificates to report on its annual accounts.

BaFin has raised an issue against Coinbase's Germany arm outsourcing parts of its operations as ‘essential' for conducting banking business.

A Coinbase spokesperson has revealed that the company has curated a remediation plan, addressing each finding of the audit report to address BaFin's concerns.

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“Coinbase considers regulation a business enabler and the process to undertake the measures identified by BaFin has already begun. To date, we have made substantial progress on this plan,” Cointelegraph quoted the Coinbase spokesperson as saying.

This year, Germany's crypto trading platform Trade Republic has emerged as the biggest crypto investor that poured $1.1 billion (roughly Rs. 8,800 crore) into the crypto sector, a KPMG report had recently claimed.

Research firm Triple-A estimated that nearly five million people hold crypto assets in Germany.

Coinbase, that aims to be the most licenced crypto firm in the world, received its approvals in Germany back in July 2021.

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Further reading: Cryptocurrency, Coinbase, Germany

Radhika Parashar

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Radhika Parashar is a senior correspondent for Gadgets 360. She has been reporting on tech and telecom for the last three years now and will be focussing on writing about all things crypto. Besides this, she is a major sitcom nerd and often replies in Chandler Bing and Michael Scott references. For tips or queries you could reach out to her at RadhikaP@ndtv.com. More