Binance Halts Singapore Operations to Meet Regulatory Requirements

The Binance exchange has ceased offering trading pairs and payment options in Singapore dollars in order to be compliant with the country's monetary regulations. The decision to cease activities came after Singapore’s Central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) issued a notice against the breach of the Payment Services Act, Bitcoin.com reported.
After reviewing Binance.com’s operations, MAS raised concerns over the possibility of Binance violating terms of the Payment Services Act. The central bank asked Binance to cease such payment services and stop soliciting such businesses from Singapore residents.
Binance took the following actions in the aftermath of the notice by MAS:

• Binance P2P (Peer-to-peer) or decentralized exchange will remove Singapore dollars (SGD) trading pairs Friday, September 10 onwards.
  
• Users have been advised to remove all related P2P trades and remove related trade advertisements by Thursday, September 9 to avoid potential trading disputes.
  
• It will not operate on any official Telegram or online communication channels in Singapore.
  
• It will remove the app from Singapore iOs and Google Play stores.
  

Binance said that its aim is to create a sustainable ecosystem around blockchain technology and digital assets. It is welcoming of the developments to the crypto industry’s regulatory framework as they pose opportunities for the market players to have greater collaboration with regulators. Binance further said that enacting in compliance with the regulations, it is committed to working constructively in policy-making that seeks to benefit every user.
Binance earlier came under scrutiny in the U.K, Japan, Lithuania, Netherlands, Germany, Malaysia, Hong Kong, South Africa and Thailand, for operating without authorisation in these countries' jurisdictions.
Binance had recently appointed Richard Teng, CEO of Abu Dhabi Global Market as the new CEO of Binance Singapore. Binance, so far a leading financial services company, aims to be leaders in regulatory compliance as well. Binance also hosted an auction of world-class art pieces in Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs) form in collaboration with the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia.
For the latest crypto news, investment tips and real-time price updates, follow our Cryptocurrency page.