Brazilian Court Rules Santander to Return $350,000 to Crypto Exchange Mercado Bitcoin

The Court of Justice in the Brazilian state of São Paulo has dismissed the appeal made by Banco Santander against cryptocurrency exchange Mercado Bitcoin, and ruled that the bank should return funds to the company, local crypto media CriptomoedasFacil reports on March 8.

Previously, the bank reportedly closed the exchange’s account, claiming that its activity was incompatible with its policy and froze the funds. According to the article, the Brazilian exchange took action through the courts against the closing of its account, claiming that the freeze of its funds was unjustified.

Per the report, the funds to be returned amount to R$1,350,733 (equivalent to nearly $350,000). The March 6 ruling on official government portal Impresa Oficial further specifies that the appeal has been dismissed by unanimous vote.

The report further explains that the exchange already won the case, with the bank having been ordered to return the funds plus interest of one percent per month, and pay for the legal expenses of the company and legal fees fixed at 10 percent of the value of the conviction. Moreover, the bank has since appealed the order and this appeal has now been dismissed.

As Cointelegraph reported in December last year, two major Chilean banks have urged the country’s anti-monopoly court to revoke its decision that prevents the closure of local crypto exchanges’ banking accounts.

In April 2018, Chilean cryptocurrency exchanges BUDA, Orionx and CryptoMarket (CryptoMKT) had applied to an appeals court to confront the banks that shut down their platforms’ accounts. The court ruled later in July the same year in favor of crypto exchange Orionx, resolving that the state-owned bank Banco Estado should reopen the company’s deposit account.

Moreover, in October last year, South Korea’s main financial authority officially cleared banks to work with crypto exchanges for the first time.