French regulator says Binance must improve ALM compliance

The French regulator said that in order to receive approval to open an office in France, Binance should guarantee anti-money laundering compliance.

In recent months, regulators around the world have been scrutinizing Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange in terms of trading volumes. In some countries, the exchange was banned, and the authorities of others stated that Binance provides cryptocurrency services without the necessary permission.

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao noted that regulators do not approve of the decentralized structure of the exchange, so the company intends to open several headquarters. According to Zhao, France is a natural choice for positioning the exchange’s representative office. Binance was established in 2017 and has not had a central office until now. One of the planned headquarters may appear in Ireland.

Head of the Bank of France, Francois Villeroy de Galhau said that the opening of the central office of the world’s largest crypto exchange in the country is a confirmation of the Paris market’s innovative dynamism. However, everything will depend on the trust of regulators. This will be the crucial factor when deciding on the opening of the Binance headquarters in France.

Zhao believes that the exchange will become the licenced digital asset service provider within a year. He added that almost 600 employees of the exchange are engaged in maintaining relations with regulatory authorities.

Recently, the head of Binance bought an apartment in Dubai. He describes the city as “very crypto-friendly”. Purchase of a real estate property may be a signal that one of the exchange’s offices will be opened in the UAE. Meanwhile, the Binance branch in Singapore has applied to the Monetary Authority of Singapore for a digital asset service provider licence. According to Zhao, the opening of the exchange’s central office will be announced after the discussion with regulators.

Dubai is vying with Singapore, France and some other countries to become a global cryptocurrency hub and create a free zone for the trading of digital assets. Zhao said that the main office of Binance may appear in any of these countries.

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