Binance Exchange is in Turmoil after Payment Services Act Breach

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance is no longer operating in Singapore until further notice. Earlier on, the Monetary Authority of Singapore(MAS) placed the exchange on its investor alert list.

This year, Singapore upped up implementation of the Financial Action Task Force’s standards. The well-known trading platform appeared among several exchanges in scrutiny.

Binance Had No Trading License

A MAS spokesperson stated that the central bank has gone through Binance.com’s operations in detail. Consequently, they established that the exchange might breach the Payment Services Act (PS Act). 

So far, only Binance Asia Services, which operates Binance. sg, submitted its license application. However, it still faces an exemption from holding a license to provide digital payment token services. 

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The spokesperson added that MAS has been engaging BAS. In light of that, they expect that BAS immediately begins a suspension of its digital assets services. BAS will inform its user base of the appropriate arrangements once they have come up with a temporary solution.

Regulation Concerns

The MAS Investor Alert List has flagged 699 companies at the moment. The companies remain unregulated but give their customers the impression that they are.

The MAS is not the only one that scrutinized the platform. Based on Chainalysis data, the exchange had received the most Bitcoin from criminal sources in 2019.

On June 26, the UK Financial Conduct Authority clarified that Binance Markets would no longer undertake any regulated activity in the UK. 

On July 1, South Korean lawmaker Noh Woong-are asked Binance to regulate its operations just like other local exchanges. Even though other exchanges pay taxes and abide by regulations, the company chose a different route. 

That’s not all. Japan’s Financial Services Agency also warned against providing services without any registration. On the other hand, the United States is also investigating Binance for money laundering and tax breaches claims. 

On June 26, Binance said that it would no longer provide services for Ontario, Canada-based users. The Ontario Securities Commission enforced actions against crypto exchanges. Some of them were KuCoin, Poloniex, ByBit, and of course, Binance. 

Is Binance Decentralized?

Another issue with Binance is its nature of decentralization. It initially came to light in China but moved its headquarters into Japan a few years ago. From there, the platform moved to Malta following Chinese sanctions on crypto. Binance is in the Cayman Islands or Seychelles, according to media sources. However, the exchange maintains it has no permanent headquarters.

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Binance hired former FAFT members Rick McDonell and Josee Nadeau, and former US Senator Max Baucus earlier this year. They provided oversight on its compliance and regulatory strategies.