The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) announced today that it had revoked the financial market license of Binance Australia Derivatives, operated by Oztures Trading Pty Ltd.
Binance, a renowned crypto exchange, recently made the decision to withdraw its license after the regulator held a hearing last week. The hearing was to decide if the license held by Oztures Trading should be suspended or canceled.
From April 14, 2023, customers of Binance will no longer be able to increase their derivative positions or open new ones. The crypto exchange has asked customers to close any existing derivative positions they have by April 21, 2023, otherwise, the exchange will close all remaining trades automatically.
The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) is currently conducting a review of Binance’s financial services operations in Australia, particularly regarding the categorization of retail and wholesale customers. On March 29, 2023, ASIC issued a hearing notice to assess whether the AFS license held by Oztures Trading Pty Ltd should be revoked or suspended.
The Chairman at ASIC, Joe Longo, said:
It is critically important that AFS licensees classify retail and wholesale clients in accordance with the law. Retail clients trading in crypto derivatives are afforded important rights and consumer protections under financial services laws in Australia, including access to external dispute resolution through the Australian Financial Complaints Authority.
When the agreement is ended, the rule states that Binance must stay a member of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority until April 8, 2024. ASIC reminds us that cryptocurrencies are risky and complicated, and cryptocurrency derivatives have extra risks due to leverage.
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) recently took legal action against the Binance Group, accusing its CEO Changpeng Zhao and three organizations of violating the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and CFTC regulations. Following this, Binance’s CZ denied the accusations, stating that detailed responses will be given in due course.
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