In Brief:
- Binance is unauthorized, insists the Canadian regulator.
- The Ontario Securities Commission reprimanded Binance for misleading consumers.
- Binance users would not be required to close or liquidate their accounts by December 31, 2021.
- Binance assures to adhere to the Canadian restrictions after the reprimand.
The Ontario Securities Commission reprimanded Binance for misleading consumers about its cryptocurrency trading platform’s ability to operate in Canada despite the fact that it still lacks a registration.
“No entity in the Binance group of companies holds any form of securities registration in Ontario,” the OSC said. Currently six crypto trading platforms are registered in Ontario, after a warning in March 2021 to register with the OSC.
The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) has notified its investors that Binance is not registered under securities law in Ontario emphasising that they are not authorized to render trading in derivatives or securities to persons or companies located in the territory.
Binance, the largest crypto exchange, said it will not allow Ontario users of its cryptocurrency trading platform to trade or open new accounts after Friday’s meeting with the Ontario Securities Commission, Bloomberg reported.
“Binance’s notice was intended to communicate that Binance had decided to actively pursue registration in Canada and that Ontario users would not be required to close or liquidate their accounts by December 31, 2021,” Binance said in a statement, adding that the letter “may not have been as clear as intended.”
In addition to Canada, Binance has had issues with regulators in the United States, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia, Norway, the Netherlands, Hong Kong, Germany, Italy, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Turkey, and Lithuania.
Lately, with its bitter sweet ordeal, Binance has been trying to improve perceptions and relationships with regulators and is majorly focusing on compliance after it received in-principle approval from the kingdom of Bahrain.
