Cryptocurrency giant Binance will stop accepting new UK users effective Monday, October 16, 2023 (4:00 PM UTC) at 5:00 PM London time.
This move comes in the wake of the UK enforcement of the Financial Promotions Regime for qualifying crypto assets that came into effect on October 8, 2023, which allowed unregulated foreign companies such as Binance to promote their crypto businesses in the UK, provided they collaborate with a company. approved by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Binance had contacted FCA-authorized Rebuildingsociety.com Ltd (REBS) to review and approve their UK financial promotions in accordance with the new regulations. However, the FCA imposed legally binding requirements on REBS on October 10, resulting in REBS’s inability to approve financial promotions, necessitating a withdrawal of existing approvals of financial promotions for crypto companies including Binance.
Binance wrote that it is currently looking for a new FCA authorized approver, and in the meantime, some restrictions will be applied to the Binance platform until they have a new approver on board and their financial promotions are re-approved.
Current UK Binance users will retain access to existing services, provided they have completed their Investor Declaration and Appropriateness Test. However, no new products and services will be available during this interim period. Binance has reassured that it is working closely with the FCA to minimize any harm to its users from these developments and is committed to finding an appropriate FCA authorized company to approve its financial promotions.
The UK Financial Conduct Authority had previously issued its final warning to cryptocurrency companies about the upcoming financial promotion regime, stressing that all companies marketing crypto assets to UK consumers, including foreign companies, must comply with these regulations . The FCA’s strict enforcement of these regulations, which threaten violators with two years in prison, an unlimited fine or both, underlines its commitment to reducing and preventing consumer harm from investing in high-risk crypto assets.
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