Singapore’s regulator adds Binance to its investor alert list

Binance has come under heavy regulatory pressure over the last few months, and more regulators are coming after the exchange and its operations

Financial regulators in Singapore have warned investors against using Binance’s cryptocurrency exchange as the company continues to operate without a proper licence. The warning came yesterday as Binance continues to face regulatory pressure from numerous countries.

Singapore’s central bank and its financial regulator, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), placed Binance.com on its investor alert list. According to the page, the investor alert list contains a list of unregulated financial entities per the information received by MAS. These entities or individuals may have been wrongly perceived as operating with a licence or regulation from the MAS.

Binance.com was added to the list, with MAS warning investors to stay away from using the cryptocurrency exchange for investment and trading purposes. This latest development comes only a week after Binance hired a former chief regulatory officer of the Singapore Stock Exchange, Richard Teng, to serve as its Binance Singapore CEO.

At the moment, only Binance.com has been placed on the investors’ alert list. Binance.sg, Binance’s Singapore website, was not placed on the list. According to the cryptocurrency exchange, Binance.com and Binance.sg are separate entities.

Binance is facing numerous regulatory challenges at the moment. A few months ago, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) banned Binance Markets Limited from providing services in the region. The FCA said Binance Markets Limited is not registered to offer certain services in the UK.

The move led some banks such as HSBC, Barclays and Santander to block payments to Binance. The cryptocurrency exchange also received warnings from regulators in the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Hong Kong and Malaysia. Regulators in these regions warned investors to stay away from Binance and its services as the cryptocurrency exchange was operating without the proper licences.

On its part, Binance has been changing certain aspects of its operations, such as discontinuing derivatives trading services in certain countries. Binance is also hiring former regulatory chiefs to help ensure that it operates within the confines of the law.