Australian authorities conduct searches in the offices of the Binance crypto exchange – Kommersant
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The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) raided the offices of the local division of the Binance cryptocurrency exchange, reports Bloomberg. According to agency sources, the searches are related to an investigation into the company’s derivatives business.
The ASIC review, which has been going on for several months now, is related to how Binance Australia classified its derivatives trading clients. Under the Australian Corporations Act 2001, retail clients are prohibited from trading derivatives. Back in February, following an internal audit, Binance said it was self-closing some derivatives trading accounts that were misclassified as wholesale accounts. However, this step did not help the exchange to save its business: in April, ASIC revoked the license issued by Binance to provide financial services.
The regulator declined to comment on the reason for today’s raids on Binance’s offices, citing an ongoing investigation. The company itself said that it is fully cooperating with the investigation. As you know, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange faced several investigations around the world at once. So, in June, a lawsuit against the stock exchange filed US Securities and Exchange Commission. Also last month, the French authorities launched an investigation against the company, who suspect the exchange of illegal provision of digital asset services and money laundering.
In May, Canada’s Ontario Securities and Assets Commission launched its own investigation into the exchange, suspecting it of trying to bypass standard due diligence and approval procedures when entering the local financial market. And in March, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that it had filed a civil lawsuit against the Binance Group administration and personally its founder and CEO, Changpeng Zhao. Regulator accuses they are that the exchange violated a number of US regulations, including those aimed at combating money laundering.
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