The Canadian Securities Exchange office in Toronto, on Jan. 3, 2018.Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press
The Ontario Securities Commission is taking action against two foreign cryptocurrency companies after a deadline to enter discussions about bringing their platforms into compliance with provincial laws came and went.
The regulator says it is going after Mek Global Limited, a Seychelles-based company identified as KuCoin in the company’s terms of service, and PhoenixFin Pte Ltd., a Singapore-based business which owns kucoin.com.
The OSC is pursuing the companies after it ordered crypto asset businesses to contact the regulator by April 19 to assess how their operations can meet Ontario securities standards.
The OSC says Mek Global and PhoenixFin never made contact with the regulator, but are subject to Ontario securities law because its platform is available to Ontario residents and some have already used KuCoin for deposits and trades.
In a statement of allegations, the OSC’s enforcement staff asks the commission to order KuCoin to cease trading securities, pay an administrative penalty of not more than $1 million and cover the costs of the commission’s investigation.
The OSC took similar action against Polo Digital Assets, Ltd., which operates as Poloniex, last month for failing to bring its crypto platform into compliance.
KuCoin did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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