Consob, the Italian market watchdog, stated today that popular cryptocurrency exchange Binance is not authorized to operate in the country.
The Italian regulator announced in a statement today that despite some of Binance’s offerings like derivatives and stock tokens being previously written in Italian, the exchange does not have the regulatory approval to conduct operations in the country.
Binance Italian Clients Warned
Consob further issued a warning to Binance clients within its jurisdiction to tread carefully while trading on the platform, as any investment through Binance can lead to total loss of funds.
“Savers are invited to make use of their utmost diligence in order to make their investment choices in full awareness, verifying in advance that the websites through which they make the investment can be attributed to authorized subjects,” excerpts of the announcement reads.
Investors are further advised by the authorities to only invest in cryptocurrencies when they have a clear understanding of the risks involved in dealing with the asset classes.
Binance Regulatory Crackdown Widens
Binance operations have been under regulatory scrutiny in recent times. Last month, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) issued a warning to the world’s biggest exchange to stop offering its services to UK residents.
According to a statement published by the FCA on June 25, 2021, Binance was directed not to carry out any regulated activity in the UK without the consent of the FCA.
The exchange was slammed with criminal charges by Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for operating a digital asset business within its shores without a license.
Thailand’s SEC stated that it had to take a stringent approach after Binance failed to respond to its letters about the subject matter.
Other countries like Japan, Germany, and the United States also have similar grievances against Binance for allegedly conducting unregulated activities in their environments.
Efforts to reach out to a Binance spokesperson for comment proved abortive at press time, but the exchange stated last month that it always takes a collaborative approach when working with regulators, adding that it takes compliance obligations seriously.
