UK Regulator Restricts Binance Partner Over Crypto Advertising

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of the United Kingdom has imposed restrictions on peer-to-peer lending platform Rebuilding Society.

Binance partnered with Rebuilding Society to comply with the FCA’s marketing regime. In a notice dated October 10, the FCA stated that Rebuilding Society was not authorized to “approve the content of any financial promotion for a Qualifying Cryptoasset for communication by an unauthorized person” and that any existing approvals must be revoked.

The notice indicated that Binance may no longer have a U.K. partner following the FCA’s marketing requirements, which took effect on October 8.

The regulator warned Rebuildingsociety to notify any client, presumably including Binance, that it was “not permitted to approve the content of any financial promotion for a qualifying cryptoasset,” to remove any advertisements offering to approve financial promotions, and to confirm its compliance in writing.

As the exchange is not registered with the FCA, Binance intended to use Rebuildingsociety to enable its U.K. users to view the exchange’s products and services through a localized domain.

Less than seven days after Binance announced a partnership with Rebuilding Society, the FCA imposed restrictions that prevented the exchange from marketing spot trading, nonfungible tokens, and other products and services to U.K. users.

The crypto exchange will no longer offer incentives or gift cards under the FCA’s regime. The marketing regime, which went into effect on October 8, intended to require businesses, including crypto companies, to provide “clear, fair, and non-misleading” advertisements or face criminal penalties.

In light of the uncertainty surrounding the regulations, the FCA added that certain companies could receive approval for a January 2024 deadline, but it is unclear whether Binance intended to pursue this extension.

Companies, such as OKX and MoonPay, have already declared their intention to comply with FCA regulations.