U.K’s Financial Watchdog FCA Asks Binance to Immediately Stop All Operations In Britain

Amid the recent crypto-mania, regulators worldwide have swung in action. U.K’s top financial watchdog – Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) – has asked crypto exchange Binance to stop all regulated activities on an immediate basis.

The FCA has now imposed stringent requirements and is one of the most significant regulatory actions imposed by a global regulator on Binance. The news comes just a day after Binance decided to suspend its services for Canada’s Toronto-based users owing to new compliance and jurisdictional updates in the region.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has given Binance a deadline up to coming Wednesday, June 30, to confirm its compliance with the watchdog’s demands, reports Financial Times. The official statement from the FCA reads:

“Due to the imposition of requirements by the FCA, Binance Markets Limited is not currently permitted to undertake any regulated activities without the prior written consent of the FCA. No other entity in the Binance Group holds any form of UK authorisation, registration or licence to conduct regulated activity in the UK”.

The publication also notes that the FCA is now making it mandatory for all crypto firms to get registered under its regime. However, Binance Markets Limited doesn’t fall under this category. Last month Binance applied to become a registered crypto company with the FCA. However, it later pulled back its application “following intensive engagement from the FCA,” said an FCA spokesperson. The FCA’s decision to approve a crypto firm depends on multiple factors with the key points involving anti-money-laundering and dealing with terror financing.

FCA’s Recent Crackdown on Crypto Firms

Amid the boom and bust cycles in the crypto market, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has been cracking down hard on local firms in the U.K. Earlier this month, the FCA reported that a number of crypto firms in the U.K. fail to comply with the new guidelines released by the FCA.

With the latest crackdown on giant companies like Binance, it is clear that the FCA won’t tolerate any kind of slippage in the operations of crypto firms.

As FT reports: “The FCA also this weekend issued a consumer warning against both the Cayman Islands-registered Binance holdings company and Binance Markets Limited, a London-based affiliate that is controlled by chief executive Changpeng Zhao and is overseen by the UK regulator”.

Despite the FCA restricting Binance’s activities in the country, British citizens can still access the exchange’s services in other jurisdictions. Binance is also facing major headwinds in other global markets. Last week, the Japanese regulator Finance Services Agency (FSA) warned Binance of conducting unauthorized trade in crypto.