The Singapore police are currently investigating Binance due to a possible breach of local payment services rules.
This investigation began when the nation’s financial regulator directed the case to the white-collar crime unit of the Singapore Police Force.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) noted that Binance was treated in such a manner for some reasons. It said that though the crypto exchange is not licensed in Singapore, Binance has actively solicited users in Singapore.
MAS further stated that the exchange went as far as offering listings in Singapore Dollars and also accepted Singapore Singapore-specific payment modes like PayNow and PayLah.
According to the financial regulator, several complaints about Binance had been received between January and August 2021. There have been statements in multiple jurisdictions of unlicensed solicitations of customers by Binance around that period.
As a result, MAS has placed the exchange on the Investor Alert List (IAL). Following the referral by MAS, the Commercial Affairs Department has also commenced investigations into Binance for possible infringement of the Payment Service Act (PS Act).
According to a statement by MAS,
“The purpose of the IAL is to warn the public of entities that may be wrongly perceived as being MAS-regulated, especially those which solicit Singapore customers for financial business without the requisite MAS license.”
The Singapore police noted that investigations were still ongoing and can not say much on the case yet.
A spokesperson from the exchange refuted these accusations, stating that Binance takes Singaporean laws seriously and, by policy, has not been soliciting its Singapore users actively.
