Months After Ban, Binance Renews Focus on UK Launch

Binance will be looking more into rolling out its services in the U.K., after initially facing turbulence on those plans.

On Saturday (Dec. 4), the Telegraph reported that Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has said the company plans to apply for a Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) license, having hired both compliance officers and former employees of the City watchdog.

This comes after Binance was initially denied by London, with the FCA saying Binance could not work there because it wasn’t authorized and hadn’t answered basic questions about the company structure.

In June, the FCA issued a consumer warning against Binance, saying the company wasn’t allowed to operate there and the FCA couldn’t work with the company because of the unanswered questions.

Zhao pledged to try and change the problems, and now says the company is “fully re-engaged.”

He added that the company is making several “very substantial” changes in its organizational structure, product offerings, its internal processes and dealings with regulators.

According to Zhao, the company’s ambition is to become a registered crypto asset firm. In the U.K., this will require abiding by rules on money laundering and terrorist financing controls.

Binance’s corporate structure has confused regulators in numerous countries. The company is based in the Cayman Islands and is the biggest cryptocurrency exchange in the world.

PYMNTS writes that in the U.K., crypto exchanges will now be subject to a new digital service tax.

See also: UK Crypto Exchanges Face 2% Tax, Not Exempt Since Country Doesn’t Recognize Digital Assets

This follows an update to regulations for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customers (HMRC). The idea, which debuted last April, intended to make it so major technology companies will pay the right amount.

That news came as the world has been looking at how to reckon with the surge in digital currency. As HMRC does not recognize digital assets as financial instruments, it won’t let the exchanges qualify for an exemption to financial markets.