Singapore Regulator Adds Binance To Its Investor Alert List: Report

The Singapore regulator of finance added binance to its Investor Alert List, signaling that the exchange doesn’t have a license so let’s find out more in our latest Binance news.

The industry’s biggest exchange Binance has been added to the Investor Alert List by the Singapore regulator. Binance.com rather than the exchange’s platform in Singapore Binance.sg, is listed. It is unclear whether the SG platform will be classified in a similar manner. The MAS added entities to the investor Alert List that it believes may have been wrongly perceived as being licensed or regulated by the MAS which is the central bank and financial regulator that oversees both monetary policies as well as monitoring the countries financial sector.

As a spokesperson from MAS said, Binance’s registered entity in Singapore was not licensed currently. It has applied for a license and while it is being under review, the entity is temporarily exempt from licensing under the Singaporean Payment Services Act until the application is approved or rejected. In this context, the addition to the Investor Alert List could serve as a reminder of these preexisting circumstances which though Binance.com is temporarily exempt but remains unlicensed.

For binance, the news is just the latest in the company’s ongoing tussle with the regulators and with teh 24-hour volume of $30 billion, offices spread worldwide and no centralized headquarters, Binance drew the attention of many regulators. In other places in Asia like Japan or Malaysia, warnings have been issued that the exchange is operating in the country with the needed license, with similar warnings issued from Holland, UK, Italy.

The Financial Conduct Authority in the UK said that it doesn’t consider the company is capable of being supervised effectively and the FCA added:

 This is of particular concern in the context of the firm’s membership of a global Group which offers complex and high-risk financial products, which pose a significant risk to consumers.”

The exchange demanded a few weeks ago that all of the users complete KYC verification before using the platform’s services which means that the users can supply the exchange with personal info including passport details and an image of themselves. The company’s CEO Changpeng Zhao is eyeing a public listing talking to the Coinbase exchange but it remains to be seen if the latest spat with the authorities will prevent these plans from coming true.