The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) canceled Binance Australia’s derivatives license on Thursday, a day after receiving a cancelation request from the exchange.
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Fast facts
- ASIC’s cancellation of Binance Australia’s derivatives license means the company can no longer offer its derivatives trading services in Australia.
- Binance Australia’s customers must close any existing derivative positions before 21 April 2023. After this date, the company will close any remaining open positions, the securities regulator said in a press release.
- The cancelation terms include a provision allowing Binance to remain a member of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority until April 2024.
- “We are winding down our local derivatives exchange to focus our efforts on our locally registered spot exchange,” Binance Australia said via Twitter.
- Binance Australia, operated by Oztures Trading Pty Ltd., has been providing services as a subsidiary of the global cryptocurrency exchange Binance, which has faced increasing regulatory scrutiny in several countries.
- ASIC has been reviewing Binance’s financial services business in Australia and recently issued a notice of potential cancellation for Oztures’ AFS license, according to the press release.
- In January 2022, there was a change in ownership of Oztures’ license, and in July 2022, the company started offering derivatives under the name Binance Australia Derivatives.
- Last week, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission sued Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, for allegedly violating of compliance rules.
See related article: After Singapore, Binance pulls back from Australia under growing regulatory pressure