Singapore’s central bank added Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, to its Investor Alert List on Thursday. The list includes unregulated individuals or businesses that may have been wrongly perceived as being licensed or regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
Specifically, the regulator added Binance’s website—www.binance.com—onto its Investor Alert List. Meanwhile, Binance Asia Services, which is a separate business entity, has been exempted from holding a license under Singapore’s Payment Services Act (PSA), meaning that the local entity is not licensed under PSA but can continue to provide services. Binance Asia Services’ license application is currently under review by the MAS.
Binance Asia Services operates independently of its parent company. Its users’ accounts are not transferable or connected to Binance.com, according to its website. The local entity currently runs a crypto trading platform under the Binance.sg domain that can be used by Singaporeans.
Binance is facing a series of regulatory restrictions in Southeast Asia. In July, Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission filed a criminal complaint against the platform for operating a digital asset exchange without a license.
Then, in early August, Malaysia’s Securities Commission (SC) publicly reprimanded the cryptocurrency exchange for operating illegally in the country. The SC said the platform’s CEO and its business entities that are registered in the United Kingdom, Lithuania, and Singapore must cease operations in the country. The Malaysian regulator also placed Binance on its own Investor Alert List a year ago, alongside companies and individuals that did not abide by Malaysia’s securities law.
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