There is currently no shortage of regulators questioning the presence of crypto trading platform Binance in their jurisdictions. However, there is an addition in the list as the two newest countries raising eyebrows against Binance are South Africa and Singapore. The respective national regulators of both countries have officially warned Binance against the non-fulfillment of its fiduciary duty towards complying with the country’s relevant laws.
A warning notice has been made public by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority of South Africa (FSCA). The authority said in the notice that the investors in the country should understand that Binance is not legally operating. The company is engaged in doing business, of which, the global crypto trading platform has not obtained any prior permission. In these circumstances, investors should apply a cautious approach while engaging with Binance as its customers. The authority does not authorize Binance South Africa or even the Binance Group, whose business in the country is questionable. Both of them cannot give any sort of financial or other advice under the Financial Advisory & Intermediary Services Act.
The notice further notes that Binance Group is a foreign company that is registered and headquartered in Seychelles. Without the permission of the relevant authority, Binance has been lending crypto trade and exchange services to the residents of South Africa. However, Binance hasn’t been authorized to do so by the respective authority and therefore people dealing with it can be exposed to potential harm.
FSCA told in the notice further that any type of crypto business is not yet an activity that is regulated by the authority. In fact, there is no authority in place in the country which has been assigned the task of regulating cryptocurrencies. In these circumstances, it is evident that the crypto business is unregulated and can be abused for defrauding people.
Meanwhile, in Singapore, there is a similar warning against Binance. However, with regard to Singapore, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) had gone one step ahead of FSCA. MAS has directly issued a warning notice to Binance Singapore in which the authority has asked Binance to immediately cease doing business. The authority told in the notice that Binance Singapore cannot facilitate any payment services for which it has to first seek permission.
MAS is also known as Singapore’s national bank which supervises the entire banking sector of the country. However, it also supervises Singapore’s crypto market as well. MAS has issued a statement that the business model, as well as the operations of Binance, have been examined in detail by the authority. The examination reveals that Binance is in direct breach of the law on the subject of payment services. Therefore, it is advised that Binance should immediately refrain from processing any further payment services in the country.
