The suspension of Binance.US Florida license followed Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao’s November 21, 2023, guilty plea in federal court to allegations of breaking U.S. Anti-Money Laundering legislation.

The appeals court cited a state statute that said, if the agency gives justifications, the OFR “may” suspend a money-services business license “by any procedure that is fair under the circumstances.” The agency also did not go over less severe suspension choices. “The usage of’may’ in the statute [cited by the OFR] implies discretion rather than obligation,” the court concluded. It takes more justification than a simple citation to the law to suspend the license.

“For Petitioner to immediately comply with the ESO, it would be necessary to liquidate the digital asset holdings of every customer [which] threaten financial harm because of digital asset price fluctuations,” the court further concluded, endangering over 170,000 state account holders with substantial financial losses and tax obligations.

Appeals are possible against the appeal court’s ruling.

One week after Zhao made his request, the OFR suspended the Binance.US license. Of the various states to do so, it was the first. On March 25, Binance filed an appeal against the OFR ruling; the public cannot see that document. “New user onboarding is temporarily paused” in the state, according to Binance.US on its website.

Other states where Binance.US’s operations were halted or its license renewal was refused this year are Alaska, Maine, North Carolina, and Oregon. It is unknown how things stand in Ohio and Georgia. It never ran as a bitcoin exchange in Vermont, Texas, Minnesota, Hawaii, or New York.

The post Binance.US Secures Victory in Florida License Appeal appeared first on Coin Engineer.

The application, submitted about a year ago and withdrawn on November 7, aimed to obtain permission for the company to manage a collective investment fund. However, according to the regulatory authority’s website, this application has been withdrawn.

“While evaluating our global licensing requirements, we have decided that this application is not currently necessary.”

The Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of Abu Dhabi Global Markets has not commented on the matter. Binance founder CZ admitted to violating US anti-money laundering laws in November. He subsequently resigned from his post. The company agreed to pay over $4.3 billion to settle the investigation.

A Binance spokesperson said the withdrawal of the license application was unrelated to the US deal. The UAE is an important location for Binance because the company has regulatory approvals in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Last year, Binance, which operates in Dubai, announced that it was helping shape crypto regulations.

Is Binance Downsizing?

According to U.S. court documents, former CEO Zhao is mentioned as a citizen of the UAE. It is known that he owns two properties in Dubai. The new CEO, Richard Teng, announced on Tuesday at a Financial Times conference in London that the company’s regional headquarters for the Middle East and North Africa is located in Dubai. Binance announced its withdrawal from the licensing process in Germany, and it has departed from Cyprus and the Netherlands. The company decided to cease its operations in Belgium but established a Polish entity to serve customers in Belgium in August.

The decision to leave Cyprus was stated to be a focus on fewer unregulated entities before the implementation of crypto asset regulations in the European Union. Binance revealed that it stopped accepting new users in the UK and would sell its operations in Russia. Additionally, regulators in Australia reportedly canceled the financial services license for its derivatives arm.

Last week, it was announced that the securities regulatory body in the Philippines initiated the process of blocking Binance. A Binance official emphasized that the company would continue working with regulators to provide “first-class services in the Middle East and beyond.”

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