Cryptocurrency exchange Binance bails on Abu Dhabi plans
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The news: Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has withdrawn an application for a licence in Abu Dhabi as regulatory pressures mount, Reuters reports.
If approved, Binance would have been allowed to manage a collective investment fund. However a Binance spokesperson told the news agency that the company had been assessing global licensing needs and this application was not necessary.
The numbers: Binance recently agreed to pay more than $US4.3 billion to resolve a US anti-money laundering investigation. Founder Changpeng Zhao stepped down as CEO after pleading guilty to breaking the law. The company said the decision to pull the Abu Dhabi application was unrelated.
The context: The withdrawal of the application follows a string of similar moves in other parts of the world. Binance this year withdrew from a licence application process in Germany, pulled back from Cyprus and said it was leaving the Netherlands.
Binance was ordered by financial regulators to stop operating in Belgium. The company later said it had set up an entity in Poland to serve clients in Belgium.
The source: Reuters
