Chile Court of Appeals Orders Bank to Resume Business With Crypto Exchanges

When Chile’s state-run Banco del Estado de Chile (Chile State Bank, BEC) and Itau Corpbanca, along with eight other banks, decided to close accounts of several cryptocurrency exchanges in April, they did so believing that the law was on their side. The courts showed them, however, that they were more than likely wrong when they ordered the banks to, at least temporarily, reopen accounts of the Buda and CryptoMarket exchanges

In the latest updates from the country, Chile’s Court of Appeals has confirmed that the banks were definitely wrong, and have ordered the BEC to permanently reopen the accounts of Orionx, and to not treat the exchanges differently than they would any other business.

The Fourth Chamber of the Court of Appeals of Santiago has accepted the appeal filed by Orionx cryptocurrency exchange against Banco Estado, which closed the company’s deposit account in late March. At that time, the bank cited the lack of “regulatory recognition of [cryptocurrency trading]” as justification for its decision.

Now, by the ruling of the Court of Appeals, Banco Estado has been ordered to reopen the deposit account of Orionx. The Court called the bank’s original decision to close it an “arbitrary and illegal action, which constitutes a deprivation of the right protected by Article 19 No. 2 of the Political Constitution of the Republic, that is, the right to equality before the law.”

In May, the president of Central Bank of Chile Mario Marcel announced that they are considering the development of a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies, in order to better manage the risks associated with cryptocurrency trading.

Three exchanges had their accounts closed by the banks in April – CryptoMarket, Buda and Orionx. Buda and CryptoMarket were the first to have their accounts reopened, followed now by Orionx. CryptoMarket, at the time the temporary suspension was lifted, opened an account with Bancoestado, the country’s only public bank.

Several of the banks have released responses to the lawsuits they face, with many still citing the fact they were attempting to protecting their assets due to the lack of regulation and understanding in the space. One defendant, Banco de Chile released a statement saying

“The closing of Cryptomkt’s current accounts is not based on the alleged danger of the activity carried out by the plaintiff or because it is not regulated by the authority, but…in the absence of concrete information that allows Banco de Chile to develop the due diligence in the matter of money laundering, since it is required to justify the transactions in the current accounts.”

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