by Sudip Kar-Gupta
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Belgium’s financial market authority, the FSMA, on Friday ordered crypto-asset exchange Binance to cease offering services related to virtual currencies in Belgium.
“Binance offers and provides in Belgium exchange services between virtual currencies and legal currencies and custody wallet services from countries that are not members of the European Economic Area,” the FSMA said in a press release.
“The FSMA therefore orders Binance to cease with immediate effect all offering and provision of such services in Belgium.”
Binance has suffered several setbacks lately, including a lawsuit in early June by the US Financial Markets Authority, which accuses it of circumventing US law.
In France, the platform is the subject of a preliminary investigation for illegal canvassing of customers and aggravated money laundering.
Binance has always defended its business practices.
The company recently decided to exit the Dutch market as it was unable to meet the registration requirements to operate as a crypto-asset service provider.
(Report Sudip Kar-Gupta; French version Kate Entringer)
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