According to Bloomberg, the Dubai crypto regulator is also seeking similar details from other global crypto players.
The Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), the entity that
oversees crypto activities in Dubai, has asked Binance to provide more
information about its business requirements in its efforts to tighten
regulatory guardrails in the emirate, Bloomberg reported.
Citing three anonymous sources, Bloomberg reported
on April 5 that the regulator had asked Binance to submit more
information about the exchange’s ownership structure, governance and
auditing processes. The people close to the matter said VARA has
requested the same details from global crypto players looking to be
licensed in Dubai.
VARA officials have also required Binance to
provide similar information, on top of board procedures, at its global
group level, with queries taking longer to address given the exchange’s
size and complexity, two of the sources said.
The increased
scrutiny over virtual assets service providers (VASPs) in Dubai adds to
Binance’s woes as it faces more pressure from regulators in the United
States.
Last week, the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed a lawsuit against Binance and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao, alleging that the exchange engaged in improper compliance procedures and trading.
Zhao has since rejected the claims,
calling them “an incomplete recitation of facts” and saying that
Binance “does not trade for profit or ‘manipulate’ the market.”
Binance received a preparatory minimal viable product (MVP) license
from VARA in September last year. The permit allows the platform to set
up an office in the United Arab Emirates and provide digital asset
exchange services to pre-qualified investors. However, the company can’t
yet offer locally regulated digital asset services in the emirate.
The
largest crypto exchange by trading volume would need to submit the
necessary requirements to VARA to upgrade to an operational MVP license,
which would allow it to offer its services to qualified individual and
institutional investors, before securing a full market product permit.
Related: Groceries to luxury cars: The state of crypto adoption in Dubai
Currently, only digital asset custodian Hex Trust has secured an operational MVP license from the Dubai regulator.
According to VARA’s website, VASPs already providing their services must comply with their requirements before the end of June.
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source link : https://cointelegraph.com/news/dubai-regulator-demands-binance-provide-info-on-ownership-governance-report