SEC Philippines to investigate Binance over alleged illegal operations

cointelegraph.com:

Philippines’ think tank Infrawatch PH continues efforts to ban Binance in the country by asking more regulators to investigate the cryptocurrency exchange over alleged illegal operations.

Infrawatch PH on Monday filed a twelve-page complaint calling on the Philippines’ Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to crack down on Binance’s activities in the Philippines.

According to the think tank, Binance has been operating in the Philippines for several years without approval by appropriate authorities.

Terry Ridon, the convenor for Infrawatch PH, claimed that Binance has no office in Manila and only uses “third-party companies that employ Filipinos for its technical and customer support services.” He also referred to former finance secretary Carlos Dominguez who publicly declared last month that Binance had no records with either the SEC or the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

“The SEC has served the public well by banning unscrupulous online lending services. It should similarly do the same for unregistered and unregulated cryptocurrency exchanges in the country,” Ridon said. He added that Binance has been offering many types of crypto products, including spot trading, margin trading, futures contracts, options, crypto loans and peer-to-peer (P2P) trading, despite being unregistered with the SEC, adding:

The news comes shortly after the Philippines’ Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) waved off a Binance ban proposal in early July, citing a lack of regulatory clarity from the BSP. The DTI was the first destination for Binance complaints by ​​Infrawatch PH, with the think tank asking the authority to probe the exchange over illegal promotions.

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