Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority issued a consumer warning against Binance Markets Ltd., banning the cryptocurrency exchange from undertaking any regulated activity in the country.
Binance has until Wednesday evening to confirm it has removed all advertising and financial promotions, according to the FCA’s register. The exchange must also make clear on its website, social media channels and all other communications that it is no longer permitted to operate in the UK.
Binance, which announced the acquisition of an FCA-regulated entity last June along with plans for the launch of Binance.UK, won’t be able to resume UK operations without prior written consent.
A Binance representative didn’t immediately have any comment when reached yesterday. The Financial Times reported the news earlier.
The move extends a regulatory crackdown on the cryptocurrency sector amid concerns about its potential involvement in money laundering and fraud. Binance withdrew an application related to the 5MLD – an anti-laundering directive – on May 17 following “intensive engagement from the FCA”, according to the watchdog.
“A significantly high number of crypto asset businesses are not meeting the required standards under the money laundering regulations, which has resulted in an unprecedented number of businesses withdrawing their applications,” an FCA spokesperson said.
Of the firms assessed, more than 90pc have withdrawn applications following the FCA’s intervention.
Binance is being investigated by several agencies in the US, Bloomberg News has reported. And Japan’s Financial Services Agency issued a warning against Binance recently, saying it offered crypto services without registration.
The director general of financial conduct at the Irish Central Bank, Derville Rowland, told the Irish Independent recently that the popularity of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin is “of great concern” and that people should be “really aware they could lose the whole of that investment”.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg also reported that the Cajee brothers, who ran a cryptocurrency investment platform from South Africa that the local regulator suspects of being a Ponzi scheme, have vanished along with a substantial stash of bitcoin.