Binance cancels registration for inactive business in the UK
Binance’s deregistration with the FCA did not have an operational impact, as it had never done business in the United Kingdom, the firm said.
Disclaimer: The article has been updated based on Binance’s response to Cointelegraph, stating that what Binance Markets Limited has cancelled were its existing permissions which were not in use and unrelated to crypto activities.
Troubled cryptocurrency exchange Binance continues to withdraw from major markets amid the ongoing pushback from global regulators.
Binance Markets Limited (BML), Binance’s United Kingdom-based subsidiary, has officially canceled registration with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
BML held various FCA permissions for activities that it “never carried out or offered in the UK,” a spokesperson for Binance told Cointelegraph, adding:
“As these permissions were unlikely to be required in the future, Binance Markets Limited decided that it would be prudent to cancel them in line with the FCA’s recommendations to keep these updated.”
After deregistration, no Binance entity is authorized by the FCA to provide any services in the United Kingdom, the regulator stated on its website.
According to the FCA, the authority completed Binance’s cancellation request of BML’s permissions with the authority on May 30, 2023.
“Following the completion of the cancellation of permissions the firm is no longer authorised by the FCA,” the regulator noted in an update on June 7.
The cancellation of BML’s registration did not have an operational impact on Binance, a spokesperson for the firm reiterated, stating:
“This decision has no impact on Binance.com, which does not own or operate any crypto services in the UK and is only available to UK consumers on a reverse solicitation basis.”
Ilir Laro, Binance’s sub-regional manager for growth in the UK and Europe, also took to Twitter on Sunday to also point out that Binance still holds five regulated entities in Europe, including France, Italy, Spain, Poland and Sweden. “As MiCA kicks into force in 2024/5, we are moving focus to getting ready which means some consolidating in order to passport throughout Europe,” he noted.
Related: Binance under investigation in France since February 2022: Report
The exec also mentioned the reasoning behind Binance’s regulatory retreats in countries like Cyprus, the Netherlands and Nigeria.
Binance previously had some regulatory issues in the United Kingdom. In 2021, the FCA ordered Binance to stop all regulatory activities in the country.
The news comes shortly after Binance’s chief strategy officer Patrick Hillmann expressed the company’s commitment to be regulated in the U.K. amid Binance’s issues in the United States. As previously reported, Binance is facing two civil lawsuits from U.S. regulators, including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
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