FSMA Orders Binance to Immediately Halt Services in Belgium

Belgium’s financial markets watchdog has ordered cryptocurrency exchange Binance to immediately quit offering its digital asset exchange and custody services in the country. The regulator also instructed the exchange to return all customers’ crypto holdings and keys.

Belgium Gives Binance Quit Notice

The Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) issued the order on Friday, noting that the crypto exchange has been serving customers in the country from nations that are not members of the European Economic Area (EEA). It added that Binance does not dispute offering such service in Belgium.

According to the watchdog, 27 companies it called ‘Binance Operators', are engaged in providing operational and or technical support for Binance’s crypto exchange and custody services to Belgian clients. However, despite several requests, the exchange has failed to show that 19 of these entities “are in fact based in the European Economic Area and are authorized, based on their domestic laws, to provide such services in Belgium,” FMSA noted.

“Persons or firms governed by the law of a country that is not a member of the European Economic Area are prohibited from offering or providing, within Belgium, by way of a professional activity – even if supplementary or ancillary – exchange services between virtual currencies and legal currencies or custody wallet services,” FSMA explained.

Instead of returning all Belgian customer assets, Binance can opt to transfer them to entities that are regulated under the law of an EEA member state, the financial markets supervisor said. These entities also have to be authorized by domestic laws in their states to carry out crypto exchange and custody services, including within Belgium.

Furthermore, FSMA urged Binance to “take every precaution that may be useful to guarantee the security of such transfers.” It also warned the exchange that Belgium's chief prosecutor had been briefed about the case, and it will pursue criminal sanction under Belgium’s law on the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing if Binance fails to obey the order.

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Crypto Ads in Belgium to Feature ‘Punchy Warning’ of Risks, New Rules Imply

The financial regulatory body of Belgium has been tasked by the government to regulate advertisements for cryptocurrencies. New rules, set to enter into force in May, oblige advertisers to clearly warn investors of the risks associated with the digital assets. Belgium Poised to Protect Consumers From Misleading Crypto Advertisements Belgium’s Financial Services and Markets Authority [...]

The post Crypto Ads in Belgium to Feature ‘Punchy Warning’ of Risks, New Rules Imply appeared first on Crypto Breaking News.

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Bitcoin and Ether Are Not Securities in Belgium, Financial Regulator Clarifies

Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ether cannot be classified as securities or investment instruments, according to a communication issued by the financial watchdog in Belgium. The authority has tried to clarify the matter, noting that the digital coins may be subject to other regulations. FSMA: Securities Laws Do Not Apply to Bitcoin and Other Decentralized Cryptocurrencies

The post Bitcoin and Ether Are Not Securities in Belgium, Financial Regulator Clarifies appeared first on BTC Ethereum Crypto Currency Blog.

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FSMA Warns against Clone of CoinDesk and 30 Fraudulent Trading Platforms

<p> The Financial Services and Markets Authority (<a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/tag/fsma/" target="_blank">FSMA</a>), Belgium's financial market regulatory watchdog, flagged 30 <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/terms/o/online-trading/" target="_blank" id="93afd583-ea4d-45cf-a1e0-8d951e5d8f48_1" class="terms__secondary-term">online trading</a> platforms offering unlicensed services in the country. A clone of CoinDesk, a popular crypto news website owned by venture capital firm Digital Currency Group (DCG), is one of them. </p><p class="MsoNormal">Potential fraudsters' names and website addresses present a broad mix of contracts for difference (<a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/tag/cfds/" target="_blank">CFDs</a>), wealth management and cryptocurrency trading services. Some of these platforms are ApexCryptoLive, Bitnexltd, FortuneFX, Spotchains, Vexxsel and a <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/terms/c/clone/" target="_blank" id="c02bac54-0735-474c-8969-06d3fdb49589_2" class="terms__main-term">clone</a> website of CoinDesk dubbed Coinsdesk (coinsdesk.org). At the time of writing, the website is no longer available. </p><p class="MsoNormal">The complete list, which was prepared after the Belgian regulator received complaints from consumers, is available on the <a href="https://www.fsma.be/en/warnings/fsma-identifies-new-fraudulent-online-trading-platforms-3">regulator's website</a>.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Fraudsters Use Aggressive Tactics</p><p class="MsoNormal">According to the most recent FSMA press release, the listed platforms act "very aggressively" to obtain new clients and persuade the victims to grant remote access to their personal computers. Popular tactics also include encouraging people to deposit growing sums of money after unsuccessful investments and providing the option to withdraw funds after making one more final deposit. </p><p class="MsoNormal">Users who have been scammed in this manner often complain about the inability to get their money back and the lack of contact with the fraudsters after they invested their money. The FSMA warns that, in most cases, these are blatant examples of investment crime.</p><p class="MsoNormal">"Fraudsters not only act without the necessary authorizations, but they also divert the invested funds. In such cases, investors are unable to recover their funds because these illegal service providers are generally located abroad," Belgium's FSMA commented.</p><p class="MsoNormal">The newest list was published two months after the Belgian market watchdog <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/forex/belgiums-fsma-red-flags-40-trading-platforms-as-fraudulent/">flagged 30 other online trading platforms</a> for their fraudulent activities.</p><p class="MsoNormal">According to the most recent report by the FSMA on financial fraud <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/forex/financial-frauds-in-belgium-jumped-by-60-in-h1-2021/">published</a> in October 2021, the number of investment scams in the first half of last year jumped by 60% compared to the same period a year earlier.</p> This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.

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Belgium’s FSMA to Police Crypto Ads with Upcoming Regulation

The Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA), Belgium’s financial markets watchdog, starting May 17, 2023, will begin enforcing a new regulation aimed at monitoring advertisements (ads) targeted at consumers in Belgium. This comes after the regulation was approved by a Royal Decree on February 8, 2023.

In a webinar held on Wednesday, the regulation shared some details on the regulation, noting that the new rules relate to adverts intended to attract crypto investments and released either “as a regular professional activity or an occasional basis for compensation.”

According to FSMA, while the new regulation covers virtual assets that function as a means of exchange or payment, such as Bitcoin or Ether, assets with only a utility function or serve as securities are exempted.

The regulatory agency said it created the regulation because cryptocurrencies are “a particularly risky investment asset” popular among Belgians who are mostly younger investors. The regulator added that last year’s crypto winter and FTX bankruptcy “have hardly undermined faith in virtual currencies.”

FSMA Seeks to Regulate Contents of Crypto Ads

According to the details shared in a presentation at the webinar, FSMA must be notified 10 days before a crypto ad that is to be published by a trading platform or an influencer is posted on various media channels such as social media, billboards and websites.

The watchdog noted that it requires such messages to be clearly labelled as advertisements and carry important warnings such as on the volatile nature of digital assets, the lack of bank guarantee for them and legal mechanisms to prevent market manipulation or insider dealing.

As part of the regulatory process, the FSMA will require crypto advertisers to keep for at least a year their ad materials, agreements and the list of platforms where they were disseminated.

FSMA on Crypto

FSMA’s new regulation on digital asset advertisement is the regulator’s latest effort to supervise the emerging crypto industry. As early as 2020, the FSMA called for government regulation of cryptocurrencies, noting that the size of the digital asset market called for attention.

In April 2022, the regulator began to require all crypto firms operating in the country to register to continue their activities. Months later, the markets supervisor started consulting on how to classify digital assets.

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