KUALA LUMPUR: The Securities Commission (SC) has today taken enforcement actions against Binance Holdings Bhd for illegally operating a Digital Asset Exchange (DAX).
Under Sections 7(1) and 34(1) of the Capital Markets and Services Act 2007, all DAX operators must be registered as recognised market operators (RMO) by the SC.
Accordingly, SC said it had issued a public reprimand against Binance for continuing to operate illegally in Malaysia despite being included in its Investor Alert List in July 2020.
"In this regard, the public reprimand was issued against Binance Holdings Ltd (registered in the Cayman Islands), its chief executive officer Zhao Changpeng, as well as three other Binance entities, namely Binance Digital Limited (registered in the UK), Binance UAB (registered in Lithuania) and Binance Asia Services Pte Ltd (registered in Singapore)," it said in a statement today.
The SC said all four Binance entities had been ordered to disable the Binance website and mobile applications in Malaysia within 14 business days from July 26.
Besides that, SC has ordered Binance to immediately restrict Malaysian investors from accessing Binance's Telegram group.
It said Zhao, as the chief executive officer of Binance, had also been specifically ordered to ensure that the above directives were carried out.
"Investors are advised to stop dealing with and investing through illegal DAX. Those who currently have accounts with Binance are strongly urged to immediately cease trading through its platforms and to withdraw all their investments immediately," it said.