Binance, a cryptocurrency exchange has advised the Ontario Securities Commission that it will cease opening accounts to Ontario residents. It also plans to stop certain services from being offered in order to conform to regulations.
Binance Promises To Increase Compliance With Regulation
Binance cryptocurrency exchange wrote a Wednesday letter to the Ontario Securities Commission.
In the letter, Binance listed a few commitments to the OSC, including “ceasing opening new Ontario accounts,” “ceasing trading in existing Ontario accounts, with exceptions to protect investors, along with winding down its businesses in certain products,” and “providing fee waivers and offering fee reimbursement to certain Ontario users.”
Binance will report to the OSC staff as well as retain an independent third-party to help ensure that its implementation of commitments is effective.
Binance has decided to stop providing services in Ontario as of June 2021. In June 2021, the exchange informed Ontario customers that all current positions must be closed by December 31, 2021.
Binance stated in his letter that Dec. 31, last year, was Binance’s 31st birthday.
Binance assured staff that there were no restrictions on trading for Ontario accounts. This included no trading by Ontario existing users, no new Ontario users and no targeted marketing to Ontario users.
Binance informed Ontario residents that its operation in Ontario was permitted to continue on December 29. The Canadian regulator said at the time: “Binance has issued a notice to users, without any notification to the OSC, rescinding this commitment. This is unacceptable.” Binance has acknowledged this announcement was not correct.
Binance acknowledged in its letter that “Despite the representations made to [OSC] staff and investors, Ontario investors were able to continue to trade after the restrictions were supposedly in place.”
In addition, Binance admitted that its customer service team “tweeted inaccurate information, informing an Ontario user that they could trade after January 1, 2022, as normal if their account was already open, which Binance now acknowledges was not correct.”
Binance informed regulator it was committed to following a regulatory route to assure compliance with the Ontario Securities Law.
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