Binance CEO, Changpeng Zhao, announced that the exchange could set up its subsidiary in the United Kingdom within 18 months as it is looking to bounce back from the clashes it has with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of the country as per regulation.
Based on a report from the Sunday Telegraph, the Financial Conduct Authority banned Binance from operating within the borders of the United Kingdom after it failed to give answers to come cogent questions asked by the authority. Part of those questions has to do with the location of the company’s headquarters.
The CEO, Zhao, said in the announcement that the company is fully ready and it is reapplying for a license with the FCA to take another at the UK market. Speaking with the Telegraph, the CEO said there have been significant changes to the structures of the organization, the internal processes, the product offerings, and also the relationship with regulators across the world.
“With all these,” he said, “we are ready to establish our presence in the United Kingdom in a fully compliant and licensed manner.”
In a bid to achieve this, the company onboarded over 200 compliance officers which include former employees from the FCA. This will also help the company to demonstrate its compliance with the terrorist and anti-money laundering laws.
The CEO also mentioned that since the FCA issued the notice, the company has kept in touch with the regulator and the interactions have been quite positive.
If the UK-based subsidiary of the exchange becomes successful, it will be a mirror of the US offshoot which is currently was established in face of maximum regulatory scrutiny.
Binance Has Been Facing Regulatory Pressure on all Side
There have been a series of regulatory pressure mounted on Binance in recent time. Countries like Malaysia, Japan, Thailand, and the European Union have joined forces with the United States and the UK to either place limits or ban the exchange’s operations.
The US subsidiary of the exchange was created to satisfy the SEC. Its operations compared to the parent company are quite limited. It currently has about one-third of the total tokens on the parent exchange and it doesn’t offer margin trading.
In May, the company became a target for the Department of Justice and the IRS when the exchange got into issues related to money laundering and tax offenses.
In September, the CFTC got a tip from a whistleblower that staff at Binance is accessing the transactions of millions of customers in a bid to manipulate the market for personal gains, and the agency began its investigation proper.
