Binance deregisters in UK amid regulatory woes

Binance Markets Limited (BML), the United Kingdom-based subsidiary of Binance, has canceled its registration with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

The UK watchdog confirmed that BML is not permitted to undertake any regulated activity in the United Kingdom following the cancellation of BML's permissions, according to a June 7 update on its website. 

“Binance Markets Limited has recently submitted a cancellation request of their FCA permissions which was completed on 30 May 2023 and is reflected on the FCA Register,” it said. “Following the completion of the cancellation of permissions the firm is no longer authorised by the FCA. No other entity in the Binance Group holds any form of UK authorization or registration to conduct regulated business in the UK.” 

The UK regulator originally issued Binance a notice to “seek prior written consent of the FCA in order to undertake any regulated activities in the UK” in 2021.

Ilir Laro, Binance's sub-regional manager for growth in the UK and Europe, said the deregistration with the FCA does not impact the exchange's operations, since BML had never conducted any regulated business in the UK, Finance Magnates reported. BML was acquired by Binance Group in 2020, intending to launch a regulated business, but the plan did not come to fruition.

"Binance Markets Limited held various FCA permissions for activities that it never carried out or offered in the UK. As these permissions were unlikely to be required in the future, Binance Markets Limited decided that it would be prudent to cancel them in line with the FCA’s recommendations to keep these updated," a Binance spokesperson told The Block in a statement. "This decision has no impact on Binance.com, which does not own or operate any crypto services in the UK and is only available to UK consumers on a reverse solicitation basis."

Binance also intends to register again in the future. "Binance Markets Limited's administrative process has no impact on Binance's future plans in the UK, we still have every intention of registering with the FCA to ensure regulatory adherence," the statement added.

Earlier in May at the Financial Times Crypto and Digital Assets Summit, Binance’s chief strategy officer Patrick Hillmann said the crypto exchange was looking to become regulated in the UK amid regulatory challenges in the U.S.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against Binance earlier this month, alleging it had violated U.S. securities laws.

Last week, Binance also announced it was exiting the Netherlands after failing to acquire regulatory approval. It also applied to deregister its local entity in Cyprus and is reportedly under investigation in France for alleged money laundering.

Updated with Binance spokesperson statement.