Binance has withdrawn an application for an Abu Dhabi license, the latest sign that the giant crypto exchange is reassessing its global structure as regulatory pressure mounts.
The Binance unit, called BV Investment Management, has withdrawn its application to Abu Dhabi's financial regulator, a Binance spokesperson said on Thursday.
The request, which was submitted a year ago and withdrawn on November 7, would have allowed the company to manage a collective investment fund, according to the regulator's website.
“In assessing our global licensing needs, we determined that this application was not necessary,” the Binance spokesperson said.
Abu Dhabi Global Market's Financial Service Regulatory Authority (FSRA) declined to comment.
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao stepped down as CEO last month after pleading guilty to violating US anti-money laundering laws, with the exchange agreeing to pay more than $4.3 billion to resolve a years-long US investigation.
The decision to withdraw the license application had “nothing to do” with the US settlement, the Binance spokesperson said.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE), which aims to become a digital asset hub, has been a key location for Binance. Binance has permission from regulators in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, according to the website.
Binance said last year it was recruiting more than 100 positions in Dubai and helping shape its crypto regulations.
Former CEO Zhao, a Canadian citizen born in China, also became a UAE citizen at the invitation of the UAE, US court documents show. Zhao is listed as the owner of two properties in Dubai, the documents show.
New CEO Richard Teng said virtually at a Financial Times conference in London on Tuesday that the company's Middle East and North Africa headquarters are in Dubai.
He said the company would announce the location of its global headquarters “in due course” but declined to provide further details on when this announcement would take place.
Cyprus, Belgium
This year, Binance withdrew from a license application process in Germany, pulled out of Cyprus and said it would leave the Netherlands. It was ordered by financial regulators to stop operating in Belgium, but said in August it had set up a Polish entity to serve customers in Belgium.
Binance said the withdrawal from Cyprus was intended to focus on “less regulated entities in the EU,” including France, Italy and Spain, ahead of the rollout of the European Union's crypto asset regulations.
Binance has also stopped accepting new users in Britain and said it would sell its operations in Russia. In Australia, regulators have revoked the financial services license of Binance's derivatives business.
Last week, the securities regulator in the Philippines said it had begun the process of blocking Binance there.
Binance's spokesperson said Thursday that the company would continue to work with regulators to “provide world-class services and offerings in the Middle East and beyond.”
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