The National Bank of Georgia published a further response to allegations that nonexecutive board member Nana Keinishvili may have unlawfully engaged in business activity, saying its board unanimously excluded her from board work until the investigation establishes the facts. The central bank also detailed the anti-money laundering and counterterrorist financing breaches behind a GEL 572,118,000 fine on virtual asset service provider BitExchange LLC, rejecting a company representative’s claim that the sanction was linked to information provided to the regulator. The central bank said Keinishvili acted alone and cited an audio recording in which she discusses her plans and aims. Virtual asset service provider supervision was outside her portfolio, while her nonexecutive position carried no operational management mandate. Inspection information is restricted to the relevant supervisory team and is not accessible to board members. The planned inspection began in February 2026. Of the company’s total fine, GEL 572,033,000 related to transactions conducted through self-service kiosks without identification and verification of customers under the required process. Other findings included deficient transaction records, sanctions and politically exposed person screening, and suspicious transaction detection. BitExchange also failed to report two suspicious operations, submitted inaccurate and incomplete information to the central bank, and processed transactions involving virtual asset addresses with possible links to prohibited substance sales. Two company administrators were fined an additional GEL 7,000 each.

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