Key takeaways:
- According to the Financial Conduct Authority, Binance’s UK business can no longer serve customers.
- Since BML had not operated in the country until recently, the cancellation of its registration had no practical impact on Binance.
In spite of continued resistance from international regulators, cryptocurrency exchange Binance continues to withdraw from significant markets.
The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) registration of Binance Markets Limited (BML), a division of Binance with headquarters in the United Kingdom, has been formally canceled. After deregistration, the FCA announced on its website that no Binance company is permitted to offer any services in the UK.
According to the FCA, on May 30, 2023, the authority completed the process of canceling BML’s license in accordance with Binance’s request to do so. In a statement on June 7, the regulator stated:
“Following the completion of the cancellation of permissions the firm is no longer authorised by the FCA,”
Due to the fact that BML had not operated in the country until recently, the cancellation of its registration had no practical impact on Binance, according to a regional manager at the exchange. BML claims that it has never engaged in “any type of regulated business” in the United Kingdom, according to Ilir Laro, Binance’s sub-regional manager for growth in the UK and Europe. He continued:
“BML was successfully acquired back in 2020 by Binance Group, intended to launch a regulated business in the UK. This attempt was not successful, however, and has since then remained dormant since its acquisition.”
Previously, Binance ran into some regulatory problems in the UK. Binance had been given the mandate by the FCA to cease all regulatory operations in the country starting in 2021.
The announcement comes shortly after Patrick Hillmann, chief strategy officer of Binance, stated the company’s commitment to being regulated in the United Kingdom in light of Binance’s problems in the United States.
Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the United States district court accepted an agreement between Binance US, Binance, and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) earlier this week, and she dismissed a previous Temporary Restraining Order that would have frozen all Binance US assets. The ability to withdraw money will still be available to US customers during this time. CZ further expressed his happiness and satisfaction at the successful resolution of a protracted dispute with the US SEC.
