(Bloomberg) — Singapore’s financial regulator said Thursday Binance Holdings Ltd. may be in breach of the local payment regulation and asked the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange to stop offering services regulated in the city state.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore “is of the view that Binance, the operator of Binance.com may be in breach of the Payment Services Act for carrying on the business of providing payment services to, and soliciting such business from Singapore residents without an appropriate license,” it said in response to questions from Bloomberg.
As Binance didn’t apply for a license under local law, the MAS has added Binance.com to the investor alert list, which warns consumers that Binance isn’t regulated or licensed to provide any payment services locally.
The Singapore regulator’s warning marks the latest blow for Binance, which has grown massively since its 2017 debut. The firm, which doesn’t have a global headquarters, also has drawn scrutiny from regulators from the U.S., Thailand, Malaysia and Japan.
Its Singapore operations are conducted by a separate legal entity from Binance.com, with its own local executive and management team, and does not offer any products or services via the Binance.com website or other related entities, and vice versa, Binance Singapore said in an emailed reply to Bloomberg.
Binance Asia Services, which operates Binance.sg, has submitted a license application, and is currently exempted from holding a license for the provision of digital payment token services, MAS said. The application remains under review, and subject to it demonstrating that it is able to meet requirements under the Payment Services Act, MAS said.
MAS has been engaging BAS and expects the firm to immediately begin an orderly suspension of its facilitation of transfers of digital payment token assets between BAS and Binance, according to the regulator.
The Singapore unit of Binance will inform its customers of the appropriate arrangements as soon as practicable, according to MAS.
(Adds MAS comments, Binance’s reply throughout)
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