Binance Holdings announced that it had decided to leave the Netherlands after unsuccessful attempts to pass the registration procedure with the financial authorities of this country.
Currently, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange is in a situation of increased attention from regulators in many countries of the world. This situation is aggravated by the fact that this attention is accompanied by an increase in pressure on the company.
Binance’s statement, which was published on Friday, June 16, indicates that after the decision to leave the Netherlands, new users living in this country will not be accepted as clients of the cryptocurrency exchange. Starting from Saturday, June 17, the company will process the withdrawal of funds only to previously registered resident users from the Netherlands.
The Dutch Central Bank last year decided to apply a measure of influence in the form of a fine against the cryptocurrency exchange. The financial regulator explained this by the fact that the company provided services in the field of cryptocurrencies without first going through the registration procedure with the monetary authority of the country. In May 2020, the Dutch authorities adopted a resolution according to which any firm planning to provide crypto services in its activities must strictly comply with the norms of the laws of this state aimed at combating money laundering and preventing the practice of financing terrorist groups.
Binance announced on June 16 that it was unable to obtain a registration granting the status of a virtual asset service provider in the Dutch market. The company separately reported that many alternative ways of serving residents of the Netherlands were studied following the local regulatory framework. The cryptocurrency exchange also announced its intention to continue trying to obtain permission to provide services in the Dutch financial market. So far, there is no information about the reason why the company failed to register as a provider of crypto services.
The Central Bank of the Netherlands announced that Binance’s statement was taken into account. Also, the financial regulator repeated its position on the fine against the cryptocurrency exchange, recalling the inadmissibility of providing services without registration, granting the right to this activity.
The Central Bank of the Netherlands stated that Binance’s obligation to register as a provider of crypto services is fully consistent with the norms of legislation aimed at strengthening the integrity of the financial system and preventing money laundering and sponsorship of terrorist activities.
The cryptocurrency exchange is also currently trying to register in other EU countries, including France, Spain, and Italy.
Binance’s problems in the Netherlands are part of the troubles the company has been facing lately. In recent months, the level of control over the exchange’s activities by many authorities has increased significantly. In early June, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued Binance and chief executive Officer Changpeng Zhao. As part of this trial, the regulator made accusations about the improper handling of the company’s clients’ funds, the use of the practice of deceiving investors and authorities, and the violation of the norms of working with securities. In March, the American derivatives supervisory authority accused crypto exchanges of violating its rules.
In May, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission revoked Binance’s license to trade derivatives. Then the company announced that it would stop the operation of its derivatives exchange in this country, but leave the spot platform open.
As we have reported earlier, Westpac Bans Transfers to Binance.
