Italian Financial Regulator Says Binance is Unauthorized to Offer Investment Services
- Italy’s CONSOB has become the latest in a series of financial regulators to warn investors that Binance unauthorized to operate in their jurisdictions.
- Earlier this month, Barclays warned it will be blocking payments to Binance, citing a notice published by the FCA in June.
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Binance’s regulatory troubles continue, with Italy’s Companies and Exchange Commission (CONSOB) warning users the exchange was not authorized to operate in the country, CONSOB said in a press release on 15 July.
In its announcement, Italy’s financial regulator told investors that Binance Group and its affiliate companies were “not authorized to provide investment services and activities in Italy”. CONSOB further warned investors to “adopt the utmost caution” when dealing with cryptocurrency assets, saying in its press release:
“In any case, it is important that savers are informed that transactions in instruments related to crypto-assets may present risks that are not immediately perceptible, due to their complexity, the high volatility of the prices of these instruments as well as for malfunctions and cyber attacks.”
CONSOB’s statement came only a month after its chairman, Paolo Savona, told Reuters that the unregulated spread of cryptocurrencies is a cause for concern. Savona claimed at the time there were around 5,000 unregulated cryptocurrencies in circulation, and that the financial regulator has already closed down “hundreds of websites illegally gathering savings” in Italy.
Italy is not the first to issue a warning that Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, is either unregulated or unauthorized to operate in a given jurisdiction. Back in June Britain’s financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, published a notice that Binance Markets Limited, a subsidiary of Binance Group, was not permitted to undertake any regulated activities in the country. A week later, British bank Barclays warned its customers it will be blocking payments made to Binance.
- The popular crypto exchange has decided to sell its business in Russia to CommEX, a crypto exchange business that was officially launched on Tuesday.
- Binance noted that it will fully exit the Russian market, and have no ongoing revenue split or any option to buy back shares in the business.
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- The company said it will be suspending its crypto-backed debit card service in the Middle East on 25 August, and in Latin America by 21 September.
- Although no reason was given for the decision, the company noted that “less than 1% of users” in those regions will be affected by the change.
- A spokesperson said the change was due to the “changing market and user needs”, and that Binance will now be refocusing its resources on its main products and long-term goals.
- Launched in March 2022, Binance Connect helped crypto businesses connect with the traditional finance system, and supported 50 cryptocurrencies and networks such as Visa and Mastercard.