Malta’s link to the controversy over Manchester City sponsor OKX
The British newspaper The Sun has raised questions about Manchester City’s continued sponsorship relationship with cryptocurrency exchange OKX following substantial penalties imposed on its operator in the United States. The story also has a direct Maltese connection: OKX chose Malta as its European regulatory hub and obtained licences here, while its European subsidiary, OKCoin Europe Limited, was fined €1,054,269 by Malta’s Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit in April 2025 for breaches of anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism-financing obligations. (thesun.co.uk, prnewswire.com, cointelegraph.com, fiaumalta.org)
On 1 April 2025, the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit imposed a €1,054,269 administrative penalty on OKCoin Europe Limited, the group’s European subsidiary. The findings arose from an inspection conducted in April 2023 and concerned failures in assessing risks, understanding customers and monitoring transactions, including a failure to report suspicion concerning one customer. These were breaches of preventive obligations under Malta’s anti-money-laundering and terrorism-financing regulations, rather than a criminal conviction for financing terrorism. (fiaumalta.org)
The regulator also acknowledged the company’s remedial work and issued a follow-up directive to monitor improvements. OKX said it had strengthened its systems voluntarily after the inspection and described the shortcomings as historical. (fiaumalta.org, okx.com)
Malta nevertheless remained central to the company’s European expansion. OKX announced its choice of Malta as its EU hub in July 2024 and obtained its MiCA authorisation in January 2025. In February 2026, it secured a further Maltese payment institution licence, supporting services including OKX Pay and the OKX Card. (prnewswire.com, okx.com, cointelegraph.com)
The wider controversy is substantial. In February 2025, the Seychelles-based OKX operator, Aux Cayes Fintech, pleaded guilty in New York to operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business. It agreed to an approximately $84.4 million criminal fine and $420.3 million forfeiture—a combined $504.7 million. US prosecutors said the platform had facilitated more than $5 billion in suspicious transactions and criminal proceeds. This case concerned a separate legal entity from the Maltese subsidiary. (justice.gov, justice.gov)
OKX became Manchester City’s cryptocurrency partner in 2022 and its sleeve sponsor in 2023. The relationship is attracting renewed attention following the club’s separate financial-rules verdict, which City is appealing while maintaining its innocence. (okx.com, reuters.com)
The Sun has questioned why the partnership continues, citing regulatory problems internationally and reporting that Hamas’s military wing had encouraged followers to use OKX. That allegation does not, by itself, establish the company’s knowing support. City told the newspaper that it undertakes appropriate due diligence; OKX declined to comment. (thesun.co.uk)
For Malta, the issue extends beyond a logo on a football shirt. The island is a licensing base for an international business whose compliance failures have attracted serious penalties. The Maltese fine demonstrates that enforcement occurred. The question now is whether sustained supervision and verified improvements can justify continued confidence as the business expands.