Binance.com placed on investor alert list by Singapore regulator
Quick Take
- The Monetary Authority of Singapore has placed Binance.com on the investor alert list.
- Binance’s Singapore website, Binance.sg, is currently not on the list.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the country's central bank and financial regulator, has placed crypto exchange Binance.com on the investor alert list.
The placement took place Thursday and only mentions "www.binance.com" on the list. The investor alert list of the MAS provides a list of unregulated entities which may have been wrongly perceived as being regulated or licensed by the authority.
The news comes one week after Binance hired Richard Teng, the former chief regulatory officer of the Singapore Stock Exchange, as CEO of Binance Singapore. Teng also worked at the MAS for 13 years as director of corporate finance from 1994 to 2007.
Binance.sg is not on the list
Notably, Binance's Singapore website — Binance.sg — is currently not on the investor alert list.
A Binance spokesperson told The Block that Binance.com and Binance.sg are separate exchanges.
"Binance.sg operates in Singapore with its own local executive and management team," said the spokesperson. "Binance Singapore is backed by Vertex Venture Holdings and is solely focused on growing the Singapore cryptocurrency ecosystem and servicing users in Singapore."
The spokesperson went on to say that Binance Singapore does not offer any products or services via the Binance.com website.
Binance operates in Singapore through Binance Asia Services Pte. Ltd. This entity is currently on the list of entities that have been granted an exemption from holding a license under the Payment Services Act for a specified period. In other words, the MAS is currently reviewing the entity's licensing application.
"Binance Singapore has applied for a license with the Monetary Authority of Singapore. We currently operate under the relevant exemption granted by the MAS and are fully committed to working closely with the MAS to comply with all requisite standards for license approval," said the spokesperson.
Update: This story has been updated to include comments from a Binance spokesperson.
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