Manila, Philippines – The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the Philippines has released an advisory stating that the now-troubled cryptocurrency exchange Binance is not authorised to operate in the country. This comes after Binance found itself in hot water recently with the US Justice Department telling the firm to pay US$4.3b in penalties and forfeitures.
According to the recent advisory from SEC, Binance is not registered as a corporation in the Philippines, and operates without the necessary license and/or authority from the government.
Moreover, it has also mentioned that those who act as salesmen, brokers, dealers or agents, representatives, promoters, recruiters, influencers, endorsers, and enablers of the platform may be fined of up to PHP5m (~US$90.2k) or may be imprisoned for up to 21 years.
More recently, a US$1b class action lawsuit was filed against celebrity football star Cristiano Ronaldo for his involvement in promoting Binance through its marketing campaign.
Outside of these issues, Binance chief Changpeng Zhao had stepped down and pleaded guilty to breaking US anti-money laundering laws, while its newly-elected chief Richard Teng is also facing scrutiny for years of intrusive US financial monitoring and an ongoing US SEC lawsuit.
