Australian court has fined a Binance subsidiary $6.9 million for regulatory breaches related to its

Binance Australia Fined $6.9M for Misclassifying Retail Clients

An Australian court just hit Binance's local subsidiary with a hefty fine. The Federal Court ordered the exchange to pay 10 million Australian dollars—roughly $6.9 million—for misclassifying 524 retail clients as wholesale investors.

What happened? Between July 2022 and April 2023, those clients were allowed to trade high-risk crypto derivatives without the consumer protections they should have had. The result: they racked up $8.7 million in trading losses and paid $3.9 million in fees.

Australia's securities regulator said Binance Australia admitted to serious failures in client onboarding and staff training. The system reportedly let users retake multiple-choice tests until they passed—kind of defeating the purpose.

In an email response, Binance Australia said it flagged the issue itself and reported it to regulators. Fixes were rolled out in 2023, and affected clients received about 13.1 million Australian dollars in compensation.