South Africa’s financial regulator issues warning against Binance
South African authorities are the latest to warn against using Binance, saying the exchange is not authorized to operate in the country.
South Africa’s Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has warned the country’s public against dealing with crypto exchange platform Binance.
In a statement issued on Friday, the FSCA stated that Binance Group, an “international company” domiciled in Seychelles, was not authorized to render financial services in the country. Binance is headquartered in the Cayman Islands and Seychelles.
As part of the warning, the FSCA indicated that South Africans were using a Telegram group to gain access to Binance’s crypto exchange services in the country.
In addition to the warning against using Binance, the financial regulator also reminded South Africans that crypto investments are not regulated in the country. “As a result, if something goes wrong, you’re unlikely to get your money back and will have no recourse against anyone,” the FSCA statement adds.
The FSCA also enjoined the South African public to confirm the registration status of entities in the financial and investment space before doing business with such companies.
Binance did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comments on the matter.
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The statement by the FSCA is only the latest in a series of warnings and outright bans against Binance by financial regulatory authorities in several jurisdictions.
On Thursday, the Monetary Authority of Singapore ordered Binance to stop offering services in the country over a potential infringement on payment regulations.
Back in August, the Dutch Central Bank alleged that Binance was operating illegally. The crypto exchange giant has come under intense scrutiny from regulators in places like Italy, Japan, Thailand, the United States and the United Kingdom, to mention a few.
For its part, Binance has stressed its willingness to cooperate with regulators and has even enacted a mandatory identity verification scheme for all users.
