The Brazilian Administrative Council of Economic Defense opened an investigation against six Brazilian banks for allegedly using their market position to restrict crypto trading operations, putting cryptocurrency exchange platforms at a disadvantage. This inquiry comes following a request filed by the Brazilian Association of Cryptocurrency and Blockchain.
Six Brazilian banks under scrutiny from the Administrative Council of Economic Defense
The Brazilian regulatory agency began investigations on Tuesday, September 18th, alleging that monopolistic practices are being carried out at Banco do Brasil, Bradesco, Itau Unibanco, Santander Brasil, Banco Inter, and Sicredi, according to Reuters.
The association accused the six Brazilian banks of closing accounts related to cryptocurrency trading without offering explanations, which was considered by the authorities as one of the critical elements to initiate the investigation.
In the Administrative Council of Economic Defense’s report, according to Reuters, the institution questions the right of the six Brazilian banks to close accounts for crypto-related operations
“It does not seem reasonable for banks to apply a priori restrictive measures in a linear manner to all cryptocurrency companies, without analyzing the level of compliance and the anti-fraud measures adopted by each crypto exchange individually, which gives a treatment of illegality per se to the activity of crypto trading,” stated the Brazilian Administrative Council of Economic Defence in their report.
The war between banks and crypto trading companies continues in Brazil
The report also cites sources linked to banks that alleged that, in Brazil, there is currently no established cryptocurrency regulatory framework, nor guarantees for cryptocurrency exchanges to apply specific rules to prevent money laundering, for example. The banks point out in their defense that there are “illicit activities that should be avoided” and that “banks should take restrictive measures when there are indications of illegal practices.”
The conflict between Brazilian banks and crypto trading companies continues as, in the most recent case, Bradesco illegally closed the bank accounts of Braziliex cryptocurrency exchange.
With this new investigation, the war between the Brazilian banks and the crypto trading companies across Brazil could settle down.
