According to sources, the Binance exchange, which already has a license to operate in Dubai, received a request from VARA to provide additional information about the company. The regulator wants more details about Binance’s owners, governance structure, and audit procedures. The regulator sent similar requests to companies that are now trying to obtain a license to operate in the emirate.
Perhaps the VARA requests were made under pressure from Western regulators, especially from the US. It was American officials who recently accused Binance of not having US registration and violating federal laws regulating commodity markets. The CEO of the crypto exchange, Changpeng Zhao, now lives in Dubai and has made the emirate a springboard for expanding business throughout the Middle East.
“VARA is going to make Dubai the capital of the cryptocurrency economy, but at the same time, the regulator needs to maintain ties with Western countries that have a stricter policy towards digital assets,” explains Sam Blatteis, CEO of The MENA Catalysts, a consulting company.
Binance representatives told Bloomberg that they provided the information requested by VARA in accordance with regulatory and fiduciary duties. The company also disclosed information about the ownership structure of the local unit and the external auditor.
At the end of last year, Binance received approval from regulators in the capital emirate of Abu Dhabi to provide custodial services for the benefit of professional market participants in the United Arab Emirates.
Source: Bits
I am an experienced journalist, writer, and editor with a passion for finance and business news. I have been working in the journalism field for over 6 years, covering a variety of topics from finance to technology. As an author at World Stock Market, I specialize in finance business-related topics.
