- The U.K. regulator had ordered Binance to stop all regulatory activities in the country in 2021.
- Binance faced trouble across European countries following the SEC enforcement action in the U.S.
The United Kingdom’s financial regulatory authority has cancelled several authorizations granted to Binance’s [BNB] U.K. division on the company’s request.
Binance Markets Limited, Binance’s U.K.-based division, had several permissions from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the regulator of the U.K., for “activities that it never carried out or offered.”
They also confirmed that the company had requested to withdraw those permissions.
As these permissions were unlikely to be necessary in the future, the company decided that it would be better to end them under the regulator’s recommendations.
This decision has no bearing on Binance.com, which does not own or manage any crypto services in the U.K. It is only available to the customers in the U.K. on a reverse solicitation basis.
Binance’s chief strategy officer Patrick Hillmann had only recently expressed his firm’s commitment to be regulated in the U.K.
The FCA had ordered Binance to stop all regulatory activities in the country in 2021. The regulator had remarked that the firm was “not capable of being effectively supervised.”
Binance in trouble across countries
Earlier this month, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the financial regulator in the United States, filed thirteen cases against Binance.US and its founder, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao. The charges include offering unregistered securities, evading regulators, misusing customer funds, and wash trading.
Binance also withdrew its registration with a Cyprus regulator, stating that it was concentrating its efforts in fewer European jurisdictions as the EU’s new Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) law takes effect. Meanwhile, it also announced its exit from the Netherlands after failing to secure regulatory permission there.
The French authorities are also investigating Binance for allegedly illicit client canvassing and aggravated money-laundering.
