The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has ordered Binance to stop providing payment services in Singapore and to cease soliciting business from Singapore residents.
The regulator has reviewed Binance.com's operations and is of the view that the website's operator Binance "may be in breach of the Payment Services Act for carrying on the business of providing payment services to, and soliciting such business from Singapore residents without an appropriate licence", said a spokesman in response to media queries.
The regulator also placed Binance.com on its Investor Alert List yesterday to warn consumers in Singapore that Binance is not regulated or licensed in Singapore to provide any payment services.
The list flags companies that are not licensed by the MAS, but may have given investors the impression that they were sanctioned by the Singapore regulator.
The spokesman added that the MAS has been engaging Binance's local arm Binance Asia Services and expects the Singapore-registered entity to "immediately begin an orderly suspension" of its facilitation of transfers of digital payment token assets between the firm and its parent company Binance.
The move comes about a month after Malaysia ordered Binance to disable its main exchange, Binance.com, and mobile applications in the country.
Calling it an illegal digital asset exchange, Securities Commission Malaysia had placed Binance and three other Binance entities, including the Singapore-registered Binance Asia Services, on its investor alert list in July last year.
In recent months, Binance - the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume - has come under intense scrutiny from regulators worldwide, including in Malaysia, Britain, the United States, Italy and Thailand.
Its British arm, Binance Markets, was in June banned from doing regulated business in the country over concerns that it was not doing enough to prevent money laundering and other financial crimes on its platform.
Japan's financial regulator has also issued a notice, warning that Binance is not registered to do business within the country.
In July, Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission issued a warning against Binance, stating that the cryptocurrency exchange was not licensed or registered to offer securities, after which Binance issued a statement saying it would restrict Hong Kong users from trading derivative products.
Responding to the MAS' notice on Binance.com, Binance Singapore, which operates under Binance Asia Services, said the notice has "no direct impact" on the services it provides and stressed that it is a separate legal entity from Binance.
A spokesman for the firm added that Binance Singapore does not offer any products or services via the Binance.com website or other related entities, and is solely focused on growing the Singapore cryptocurrency ecosystem and servicing users in Singapore.
In a separate statement, Binance.com said it is "actively working with the MAS to address concerns that they may have through constructive dialogue" and that the company takes a "collaborative approach" in working with regulators.
Binance Asia Services is currently exempted from holding a licence under Singapore's Payment Services Act for the provision of digital payment token services as its licence application is being reviewed.
