Binance chief Changpeng Zhao said the stock exchange plans to expand its UK business over the next six to eighteen months, despite the country’s regulator instructing it to stop trading earlier this year.
The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rejected Binance’s ability to trade in the UK in June due to extensive regulatory harassment of crypto exchanges. Binance is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world.
To become a UK-registered cryptocurrency company, the platform must comply with money laundering and terrorist financing controls. To meet these requirements, Zhao indicated that the company is considering setting up a specific company to operate in the UK – similar to its subsidiary Binance.US.
Zhao told The Telegraph on December 4 that Binance plans to apply for an FCA license, employing “a number of former UK regulators” and “a few hundred professionals in line” since the FCA’s announcement in June.
In October, the cryptocurrency giant appointed a former head of international affairs at the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) as the main regulatory liaison to help improve relations with international regulators.
Zhao also noted that the platform is “completely re-engaging” with regulators and is in the process of making “some very important changes” to “the products we offer, our internal processes and the way we communicate with regulators.”
Related: Binance continues the search for regulated crypto exchange with a new employee
With FCA approval, Binance can offer products such as futures contracts and derivatives in the UK. In September, Binance announced that Australian users would have 90 days to close their positions in mortgaged futures, options and tokens as regulators continued to blow into flames. …
Binance has also previously suspended derivatives trading for users in Germany, Italy and the Netherlands as part of a broader plan to end the offering of these products across Europe.
In August, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) issued a supervisory report stating that it “could not” effectively monitor Binance because it did not respond to inquiries about headquarters.
The exchange has rejected all allegations of market manipulation, but it still faces opposition from several jurisdictions, including Germany, Malaysia and South Korea.
