South African regulator issues warning against Binance
In the series of government regulations and outright bans on Binance’s unlicensed operations, this one from South Africa comes as the newest.
Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) of South Africa has recently issued a strict warning to its citizens against dealing in any kind of crypto trading or exchange activity on Binance.
The FSCA’s official statement on Friday read that Binance Group is an “international company” that is domiciled in The Cayman Islands and Seychelles and was operating without licenses. Currently, the group, “is not authorized to render any financial services in the country.”
As part of the official warning, the FSCA has also indicated that many South Africans were accessing Binance’s crypto exchange within the country through a Telegram group, reminding them that cryptocurrency investments “are not yet regulated in the country.”
In very strong words, it also directed its citizens to abstain from trading in crypto because in case something goes wrong, they are unlikely to get their money back and “will have no recourse against anyone.”
The FSCA statement also asked the citizens to confirm the registration status of all entities that are within the investment and financial space before they sign in for any business agreement with such companies.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) had ordered Binance to halt operations in the country just this week, owing to a noted infringement on payment regulations.
In August 2021, the Dutch central bank had accused Binance of running illegal operations in the mainland, followed by stricter warnings from the United Kingdom, Japan, Thailand, Italy, the United States, and other countries.
For Binance’s part, the firm has expressed willingness to cooperate with regulators, and to this effect, it has also enacted a ‘mandatory identity verification scheme’ for all its users.
