KuCoin EU Hires AML Chief in Vienna After Austria Bars Onboarding

KuCoin EU appointed Carmen Kleinhans as its Anti-Money Laundering officer and added two deputy AML officers to its Vienna compliance team, the company said in a release. The hires come weeks after Austria’s Financial Market Authority barred the firm from taking on new clients under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation.

The new team will oversee anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist financing and sanctions controls, as well as enterprise-wide risk management and engagement with regulators, the release said. The two deputies were recruited from backgrounds that include former Austrian regulatory posts and senior bank compliance roles.

Austria’s FMA prohibited KuCoin EU from onboarding new clients in February after finding that key AML/CTF and sanctions compliance positions were not properly filled, a breach of the internal organizational safeguards required for MiCA-licensed firms. The restriction applied to new client onboarding and new contracts.

An industry audit earlier this year listed KuCoin among exchanges that faced significant AML-related penalties in 2025. Regulators in multiple jurisdictions have acted against crypto firms when control functions and staffing were found to be inadequate.

At the group level, KuCoin agreed in January 2025 to pay nearly $300 million and to exit the U.S. market for two years as part of a criminal resolution tied to unlicensed money-transmission activity and AML deficiencies. On March 30, the parent company paid a $500,000 civil penalty to settle an action by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission alleging operation of an unregistered offshore commodities exchange.

Earlier in March, Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority issued a warning that KuCoin had allegedly provided virtual asset services in the emirate without a local licence.

Whether the new hires restore the control functions the FMA found lacking will depend on the regulator’s reassessment. KuCoin EU did not respond to a request for comment by publication.