Post by account_disabled on Mar 13, 2024 8:35:08 GMT
Cryptocurrency activity is normally used to practice money laundering and the formation of "financial pyramids", which constitutes an element of high banking risk, a factor that authorizes, in itself, the closure of brokerage accounts.
123RF
123RF Bank may close cryptocurrency brokerage account due to suspected illegalities
With this understanding, the 15th Private Law Chamber of the São Paulo Court of Justice authorized Sicredi bank to close the account of a cryptocurrency brokerage.
According to the records, the company B2B Lead falsely identified itself as a provider of IT services, hiding its activity with cryptocurrencies from the bank.
Sicredi obtained a first instance decision to close the brokerage account. There was an appeal to the TJ-SP, which was unanimously denied. According to the rapporteur, judge Mendes Pereira, the fact that the company presents itself as a provider of IT services "constitutes falsehood and an illegal contract that justifies the termination carried out by the bank, being a more than plausible justification for the termination of commercial relations" .
Furthermore, the judge stated that the amounts held by the broker may have "come from possible fraudulent accounts, which could constitute a crime of money laundering under the terms of Bacen Circular Letter 3,542/2012, demonstrating the legality of the action taken as a way of preventing laundering of money and combating the financing of terrorism".
Pereira also stated that no financial institution is obliged to accept accounts with amounts of "doubtful origin or unproven origin" and then respond to the supervisory bodies, "it being within their prerogatives to urge the account holder to provide proof, under penalty of no longer acting on your service."
In the case at hand, Sicredi identified a discrepancy between the values declared by the broker and the movement of the account.
For the rapporteur, there is no proof of the origin or legality of the company's resources. He also said that cryptocurrencies can be used for money laundering, "as is public and well-known, although not all customers do so." "This is an experimental technology operating in a highly volatile market that allows the formation of 'bubbles' and 'pyramids'", he added.
Thus, Pereira concluded that the bank has the right not to maintain the account, but cannot withhold the broker's or investors' money, in addition to giving the company time to resolve its transactions in another financial institution.
In this case, the account was closed 60 days after the first degree decision, which was validated by the TJ-SP.