Singapore Monetary Authority Adds Binance to Investor Warning List

Singapore’s financial regulator, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), has added Binance to its investor warning list, becoming yet another country to warn investors.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the country’s financial regulator, has added Binance to its investor alert list. The list warns investors of companies or firms that “may have been wrongly perceived as being licensed or regulated by MAS.” This is similar to a warning issued by the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority.

Bloomberg asked the MAS questions about the incident — and it may be more than just a warning. According to the report,

“Binance may be in breach of the Payments Services Act for providing payment services to, and soliciting business from, Singapore residents without an appropriate license.”

The development adds to the list of countries that are examining Binance. As one of the most popular exchanges in the world, it has come to the attention of regulators. The latter has become especially mindful of centralized exchanges, the curbing of which they hope can bring some order to the market.

Among the countries scrutinizing Binance are the U.K., Japan, South Korea, and Hong Kong. It had to shut down its Won trading pairs in Korea, while it restricted its derivatives offerings in Hong Kong.

However, cryptocurrencies are popular in Singapore, and the government is also friendly in terms of its regulation. It is also considering working on its own CBDC, with a report issued just last week suggesting a shortlisting of companies.

What’s in store for Binance?

Binance has been dealt some strong blows by the string of regulatory actions that have taken place this year. The company is still moving forward confidently, and it doesn’t appear to have affected business too much. It even hired a former Bourse executive to be its Singapore CEO.

On its part, the exchange is attempting to become regulation compliant and, to that end, has taken several steps. For one, it has mandated intermediate verification levels for all users. It also hired a former treasury investigator to be its Global AML Chief.

On the whole, Binance seems unaffected. Founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao even said that the U.S. arm of the company could see a public listing within the next three years. This would add to the legitimacy of Binance in the public’s eye, but it remains a long way off.