Shirt hits the fan: Manchester City sponsor OKX faces scrutiny over US fine

Manchester City shirt sponsor OKX was fined $504million (£381million), nearly £400million, in the United States last year, according to the supplied report. The penalty has prompted scrutiny of the club’s continued partnership with the crypto exchange.

The report cites a US Department of Justice press release in which officials said the platform “facilitated over five billion dollars’ of suspicious transactions and criminal proceeds”.

OKX disputes the characterisation of the case. In its response, the company said: “OKX pleaded guilty to one count of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. According to the Department of Justice documents, OKX received credit for its cooperation with the investigation and timely engaging in remedial measures.”

Run by Chinese billionaire Mingxing “Star” Xu, OKX became City’s official crypto partner in 2022 before signing a reported £55million deal the following year.

The supplied report also says its European subsidiary was fined in Malta over historical breaches of money-laundering and terror-financing regulations up to April 2023. It refers to investigations in China, South Korea, Thailand and the Netherlands, and a payment of more than £700,000 for operating without a licence in Ontario, Canada.

The report says the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, named OKX among platforms followers could use. OKX said no transactions relating to that incident were processed and that its involvement was limited to being named by a third party as a potential way to transfer assets to an external wallet.

OKX said the criminal complaint contained no allegation of cooperation or wrongdoing by the company. It said its platform immediately identified illicit activity and that any attempted transfer from an OKX customer would have been flagged and blocked.

An unnamed football industry source quoted in the report questioned why City had not severed the relationship, saying: “It beggars belief that the club would continue to knowingly partner a crypto exchange with such a chequered past.”

The supplied report links the sponsorship scrutiny to reported Premier League financial findings against City. City deny wrongdoing and are appealing the reported verdict. The club said it had a long-standing partnership with OKX and always undertakes “appropriate due diligence”.