- Binance is “reviewing” a cease-and-desist order by the Belgian financial authorities
- The FSMA banned Binance from operating on Friday
- The ban follows similar bans from France, the Netherlands and the US
Binance is “reviewing” a cease-and-desist order filed by Belgium’s Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) on Friday as the net closes around the exchange operator. The FSMA noted on Friday that the exchange is offering prohibited financial services and has ordered it to halt all activities, with the order coming less than a week after Binance was forced to leave the Netherlands after it failed to obtain clearance to operate in the country. It is also in trouble in France, with authorities there accusing it of allowing money laundering to take place on the platform.
FSMA Pulls no Punches
The FSMA didn’t beat around the bush when it came to its treatment of Binance, thoroughly ruining its weekend by telling the exchange to stop what it was doing at once:
Binance is offering and providing exchange services in Belgium between virtual currencies and legal currencies, as well as custody wallet services, from countries that are not members of the European Economic Area. The FSMA has therefore ordered Binance to cease, with immediate effect, offering or providing any and all such services in Belgium.
Binance has yet to publicly respond to the claims but did issue a statement to Coindesk where it claimed to be “disappointed” in the FSMA’s decision despite “ongoing conversations” with the regulator. It added that it is “reviewing the details” of the notice and will “continue to work collaboratively with regulators in Belgium and around the world in compliance with our obligations.”
Belgium Added to Growing List
This is hardly a tonic for Belgian Binance users who now join the likes of those in the US, the Netherlands, France and Nigeria to have Binance’s services taken away from them amid a massive clampdown on the exchange.
Given that the Belgian order relates to countries within the EEA we could well see more EEA members take the same action, which will see Binance’s footprint shrink even further.
