Binance Faces Fresh Wave of Complaints Led by Thailand

Binance is facing a fresh wave of regulatory trouble, this time led by Thailand. To be specific, Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a criminal complaint against the popular crypto exchange. At the same time, regulators in Japan, the Cayman Islands, and the UK have also warned about the exchange.

The Thai regulator filed a criminal complaint with the kingdom’s Royal Thai Police (ECD). The Thai SEC claims the exchange is running an illegal crypto business. This is because Binance is not licensed to operate in the nation. In addition, the SEC issued Binance a warning letter in April. However, the exchange failed to respond to the warning in the allocated time.

Thus, as an unlicensed company, Binance is liable under Section 66 of the Digital Asset Businesses Emergency Decree. The decree states that violators can face up to five years in prison and pay a fine of 500,000 baht (US$15,563.73). Binance could also be subject to a 10,000 baht daily fine for each day the exchange continues operating illegally.

On the other hand, the Cayman Islands published a notice via its Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA). The notice stated that Binance is not licensed to operate a crypto exchange in the island country.

“Binance, the Binance Group, and Binance Holdings Limited are not registered, licensed, regulated, or otherwise authorized by the authority to operate a crypto-currency exchange from or within the Cayman Islands.”

To continue operating in the Cayman Islands, Binance needs to either register and comply with the Virtual Asset (Service Providers) Act of 2020. Or, Binance can obtain a waiver from the relevant authority.

In addition, the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) both issued exchange warnings. Specifically, this is not the first time the Japanese FSA has warned the exchange. Prior to this, the FSA warned Binance in 2018.  Also, the UK warning came after UK bank TSB banned its customers from buying crypto from Binance. The bank cited low-security standards as the reason for the ban.

Source: https://coinquora.com/binance-faces-fresh-wave-of-complaints-led-by-thailand/