Binance, the largest crypto exchange by trading volume, has come under preliminary investigation in France on allegations of illegally canvassing customers and severe money laundering. A Binance spokesperson confirmed it recently had an on-site visit by French authorities. The spokesperson added that user information is kept private and only disclosed to government officials in response to proper, well-documented requests. - On Twitter, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) also said on-site inspections without advance notice are a regular procedure in France, denying claims.
- French authorities' lititigation came shortly after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against Binance and Zhao over U.S. law violations with 13 charges.
- The allegations in the complaint include mishandling customer funds, misleading investors and regulators, violating securities laws, creating an extensive web of deception, conflicts of interest, lack of disclosure, wash trading, and calculated evasion of the law.
- At the time, Binance defined the complaint as disappointing, adding that they intended to defend the platform vigorously.
- The platform is currently under increased pressure in several other countries by market regulators, mainly due to compliance issues.
On the other hand, the popular crypto exchange recently applied to withdraw its registration in Cyprus as a crypto asset service provider to focus on its larger markets in Europe ahead of the rollout of the European Union'Union'sregion-wide crypto regulations, Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA). - France is one of the six EU member states where Binance has licenses and registrations.
- The firm also recently halted its operations in the Netherlands after failing to register as a virtual asset service provider with the European country's regulator.
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