In Brief:
- FSCA joins the list of regulators to warn against Binance.
- In addition to the warning, the financial regulator also reminded South Africans that the country has not regulated any crypto investments.
- Binance said it does not provide financial advice or render any intermediary services
The Financial Sector Conduct Authority of South Africa on Friday issued a warning against Binance Group. The FSCA said that the country’s regulators have not authorized the company to provide any financial advice or intermediary services.
“The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) warns the public to be cautious and vigilant when dealing with BINANCE GROUP as they are not authorised to give any financial advice or render any intermediary services in terms of the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act, 2002 (FAIS Act) in South Africa,” the regulator said in its notice on September 3.
The regulator also cautioned South Africans using the exchange’s Telegram group. The users have been using the group to gain access to Binance’s crypto exchange services in the country. The FSCA also reminded South Africans that the country has not regulated any crypto investments.
“As a result, if something goes wrong, you’re unlikely to get your money back and will have no recourse against anyone,” the FSCA statement adds.
The FSCA also prompted the South African public to confirm the registration status of entities in the financial and investment space before doing business with the companies.
Binance’s Response:
In response to the warning, a Binance spokesperson reportedly said: “we would like to take this opportunity to clarify that Binance.com does not provide financial advice or render any intermediary services.”
For the Telegram group, the spokesperson said Binance has an official Binance South Africa Telegram community, “which promotes blockchain education and community announcements. It is not intended, nor does it provide any financial advice.”
The spokesperson also specified that Binance does not have an entity named Binance Group based in Seychelles. It also said it was continuing to work closely with South Africa’s Financial Intelligence Center (FIC). Binance has been receiving a lot of regulatory actions for the past few months. Singapore, the U.K., Italy, Japan, Thailand, Canada and the US are some of the countries that have regulated its actions. Binance is also reportedly under investigation by the U.S. government.
