Crypto exchange Binance It has canceled its application for an investment fund license in Abu Dhabi.
The exchange's BV investment management unit withdrew its application with the Abu Dhabi Financial Services Regulatory Authority yesterday, according to the regulator's website. The license would have allowed Binance to manage mutual investment funds in the country.
A Binance spokesperson told Decrypt: “In reviewing our global licensing needs, we have voluntarily decided to cancel the special license held by BV Investment Management Limited for mutual investment fund management as it is no longer necessary.”
A Binance spokeswoman told Reuters the decision had nothing to do with the $4.3 billion settlement with U.S. regulators.
Binance has canceled several license applications around the world this year. In April, it had its Australian financial services license revoked, but in June it abandoned its application with German regulator Baffin, applied for delisting from Cyprus and left the Netherlands after failing to obtain a VASP license in the country. That same month, Belgium's regulator ordered it to stop providing currency exchange and wallet services in the country.
In September, Binance exited the Russian market over compliance concerns, selling its business in the country to the newly launched crypto exchange CommEX. A month later, Binance announced that it would stop accepting new UK users, and in November, the Philippines SEC announced that it had blocked access to the exchange.
“We are committed to continuing our work with regulators to provide world-class services and offerings in the Middle East and beyond,” a Binance spokesperson told Decrypt.
According to its website, Binance holds financial services licenses from the Abu Dhabi Financial Services Regulatory Authority for its Binance (AD) Limited and BV Investment Management divisions. Binance has a Category 4 crypto-asset service provider license in Bahrain, as well as a virtual asset service provider license in Dubai, where the exchange's Middle East headquarters are located, according to new CEO Richard Teng.
Speaking at the FT Crypto Winter Summit, Teng declined to reveal the location of Binance's global headquarters, saying the company would disclose the information “in due course”.
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