Embattled crypto exchange Binance revives plans for a UK launch
Embattled crypto exchange Binance is reportedly reviving plans for a UK launch.
Changpeng Zhao, Binance’s chief executive said the company will reapply for a Financial Conduct Authority licence in comments to The Sunday Telegraph.
Zhao said that the exchange’s relations with UK regulators had improved since Binance received a public dressing down over Summer.
“We’re fully re-engaged there,” Zhao told the Telegraph. “We’re making a number of very substantial changes in organisational structures, product offerings, our internal processes, and the way we work with regulators.
“We want to continue to establish a presence in the UK and serve UK users in a fully licensed and fully compliant manner,” he added, confirming that Binance hopes to become a registered crypto asset firm, which requires abiding by money laundering and terrorist financing controls, in six to 18 months.
In June, the UK’s financial watchdog issued a warning about Binance on its website informing UK customers that the exchange was operating without proper permissions.
In response Barcalys, HSBC and Santander which banned UK customers from making transactions on the exchange.
In a further signal of the regulator’s ire, in August the FCA said that it was unable to effectively supervise Binance because the platform “refused” to provide basic details about its operations.
In the months since, Binance has hired a string of compliance experts and even published a manifesto on crypto regulation as it sought to pacify regulators.
In comments to The Telegraph Zhao insisted that Binance is changing. “When [regulators] asked us a very simple question: ‘Where’s your headquarters?’ and our response was that we have no headquarters, that we’re a decentralised organisation, they didn’t know how to work with us.
“We understand that now. So now we’re in the process of setting up real offices, legal entities, a proper board, proper governance structures in most places, including the UK.”
Binance is the world’s largest crypto exchange, yesterday processing $28.9bn in transaction volumes.
Read more: Binance amps up global compliance efforts, deepens ties with Ireland