Earlier today, Ripple Labs Inc. was fined $700,000 for "willfully violating several requirements of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA)." The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) stated that the company issued its own currency (XRP) and failed to implement adequate anti-money laundering measures, in addition to operating as a money services business without the proper authorization from the federal regulatory body. FinCEN worked with the US Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California to coordinate the civil money penalty against Ripple Labs Inc and XRP II, LLC, which is owned by Ripple Labs.

Sale of XRP to Roger Ver

A statement of facts included in FinCEN's assessment of the violations describes multiple situations where XPR II "failed to file, or untimely filed, suspicious activity reports." One such scenario involved noted bitcoin entrepreneur and evangelist Roger Ver. The report alleges that Ver purchased $250,000 worth of XRP from XRP II without filling out a KYC (know your customer) form. The report notes:

"On September 30, 2013, XRP II negotiated an approximately $250,000.00 transaction by email for a sale of XRP virtual currency with [Roger Ver]. XRP II provided [Ver] with a 'know your customer' ('KYC') form and asked that it be returned along with appropriate identification in order to move forward with the transaction. [Ver] replied that another source would provide the XRP virtual currency and did not 'require anywhere near as much paperwork' and essentially threatened to go elsewhere. Within hours, XRP II agreed by email to dispense with its KYC requirement and move forward with the transaction."