The Bank of Spain has listed the world’s largest crypto exchange Binance as an authorized virtual currency platform in their registry. The platform will be required to comply with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing regulations to maintain its license in the country.
Complying with Financial Regulations
Binance tweeted on Friday that the registration enabled the platform to perform crypto-asset exchange and custody operations in Spain in cooperation with the regulations imposed by the Bank of Spain. The platform currently has around 120 million users worldwide, and is the largest crypto exchange by trade volume.
#Binance secures Virtual Asset Service Provider registration in Spain "This registration will allow Binance to offer crypto asset exchange and custody services in Spain in compliance with the requirements of its central bank’s AML/CTF rules."https://t.co/FPWFndDN4p— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) July 8, 2022
Registered financial providers must comply with money laundering and terrorism financing activity regulations. However, according to local authorities, they will not supervise financial and operating risks of registered platforms. The central bank also states that being included in the registry does not mean that an entity’s activities are approved of.
Binance’s approval in Spain comes as its third in Europe after authorities in France and Italy gave the exchange the green light to offer crypto-related services in May. The platform has also filed for a similar license in Germany.
Meanwhile, Binance is facing scrutiny from regulators and law enforcement agencies in the U.S., Canada, Hong Kong, the U.K., Japan, Israel, and South Africa. In related affairs, Binance has previously withdrawn operations from Australia and Singapore, and is facing a potential ban in Malaysia.
New Regulatory Framework
The European Union is working on a new regulatory framework to tame the volatile market of the crypto sector. As reported by Reuters, cryptocurrency companies will be required to be licensed and to provide customer safeguards before they will be allowed to issue or sell digital currencies in the EU.
With crypto-assets still being largely unregulated, there is no cross-border approval of crypto services in the EU, but this is expected to change in 2023, when the new regulations go into effect across all member states.
Under current regulations, national operators in the European Union are only required to demonstrate controls for money laundering.
A French representative in the European Parliament urged France’s market regulator to review its May decision to approve Binance’s operations, citing to a recent Reuters investigation into money laundering on the platform. The report revealed that Binance has been used to launder at least $2.35 billion.
