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Binance Cancels UK Registration, Will Focus on Key EU Countries

Tim Fries

Published: June 19, 2023 10:13 pm

Last Updated: June 20, 2023 10:29 am

After announcing plans to exit Cyprus and Netherlands, Binance is also abandoning the UK, the country’s financial regulator confirmed. The leading crypto exchange’s UK affiliate had not conducted any operations in that market under the registered subsidiary and has now applied to cancel its registration process at the end of May.

Binance Says Departure from the UK Will Have No Impact

Binance has canceled its registration process in the United Kingdom, the country’s regulator Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) confirmed on its official website. Following the move, the crypto exchange’s local subsidiary, Binance Markets Limited (BML), is no longer authorized to offer services in the UK. The FCA said it had executed Binance’s cancellation request on May 30, 2023.

“Following the completion of the cancellation of permissions the firm is no longer authorised by the FCA.”

– the FCA said in an update on June 7.

Given that BML has never started operating in the UK in the first place, its exit from the country will not have an operational impact on the world’s biggest crypto exchange, its regional manager Ilir Laro said. According to Laro, Binance’s UK arm has never done “any type of regulated business” in the European nation.

“BML was successfully acquired back in 2020 by Binance Group, intended to launch a regulated business in the UK. This attempt was not successful, however, and has since then remained dormant since its acquisition.”

– said Ilir Laro, Binance’s sub-regional manager for growth in the U.K. and Europe.

Binance Exits the Netherlands and Cyprus After SEC Lawsuit

Binance’s decision to cancel its registration in the UK comes as the leading cryptocurrency exchange faces an intense regulatory push, particularly in the US. Earlier this month, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed more than a dozen charges against Binance, accusing the company and its founder Changpeng Zhao of multiple misdeeds, including commingling of user assets, breaking federal securities law, and listing unregistered securities.

In the meantime, Binance applied to deregister as a digital asset services provider in Cyprus to focus on its other European Union (EU) operations ahead of the launch of the bloc’s landmark crypto legislation, Markets in Crypto-assets (MiCA). This comprehensive set of regulations is set to drastically impact the EU’s digital assets landscape and bring regulatory clarity that does not currently exist in the US.

Last week, Binance also announced it would exit the Dutch market after failing to meet the registration requirements, while it also faces an investigation in France over potential money laundering.

This article originally appeared on The Tokenist