Australian regulator: Banks closing Bitcoin business bank accounts, no need for full investigation

As early as October last year, Australian banks suddenly closed the bank accounts of 17 Bitcoin companies, which aroused suspicion among the Bitcoin community. For this reason, Australian National Party MP Matthew Canavan applied to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to investigate the banks.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has concluded that Australian banks are not blocking services to bitcoin companies, noting that a full investigation into the incident is not necessary, the Australian Financial Review (AFR) reported.

ACCC chairman Rod Sims wrote to Canavan saying there was no evidence the banks were conspiring to close the accounts of bitcoin businesses.

Sims further wrote that the committee's investigation found that the banks took steps to ensure they could meet their regulatory obligations and manage their risks.

Sims wrote:

“The available material also shows that the banks made their decisions at different times, with different outcomes.”

He cited the example of one bank choosing not to deal with digital currency companies in 2011, while another made the same decision in June 2015.

Additionally, some banks are still providing some basic services to digital currency companies, Sims said.

Questioning Criticism

However, the AFR reported that bitcoin firms and Labor Senator Sam Dastyari have criticised the ACCC’s findings, saying it had not properly investigated the issue because it had not reached out to the bitcoin firms whose accounts were closed.

Mr Sims rejected the suggestion, however he told media the council was already speaking to some of the affected businesses.

In addition, he said the bank had shown investigators documents and provided an explanation for why the accounts were closed.

Therefore, the ACCC decided there was no need to launch a full investigation.

What do you think?

Original article: http://www.coindesk.com/accc-australian-banks-collusion-bitcoin-accounts/
By Daniel Palmer
Compilation: Overnight porridge
Source (translation): Babbitt Information (http://www.8btc.com/accc-australian-banks)

Copyright Statement: The author reserves all rights. The article is the author's independent opinion and does not represent the position of Babbitt.