Binance Under Scrutiny: Australia's Financial Watchdog Investigates Crypto Giant's Derivatives Business

Crypto exchange Binance BNB/USD has been subject to an investigation by Australia's financial markets watchdog.

This is part of an ongoing inquiry into the company's now-closed local derivatives business, Bloomberg reported, quoting sources.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the country's unified regulator for corporate affairs, markets, financial services, and consumer credit, carried out searches at Binance's Australian offices on Tuesday, the sources revealed.

The ASIC's investigation into the derivatives business encompasses Binance Australia's categorization of retail and wholesale clients.

Earlier in April, the company announced its decision to shut down the local derivatives exchange while maintaining the spot platform.

Binance had previously stated that it had closed the derivatives positions of certain Australian users due to misclassification as wholesale investors.

An ASIC representative, commenting on the cancellation of Binance Australia's derivatives operation license in April, stated, "we are unable to confirm or deny any operational detail such as possible searches," and further added that the review of the company "is ongoing."

Binance has expressed its commitment to "cooperating with local authorities" and emphasized its focus on "meeting local regulatory standards in order to serve our users in Australia in a fully compliant manner."

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Binance, which is currently facing a series of investigations worldwide, has been dropped by several payment providers cautious of regulatory repercussions.

Its Australian platform has lost access to a crucial local currency withdrawal route.

In a related event last month, French authorities visited Binance's local offices.

French officials are probing the alleged unlawful provision of digital-asset services and acts of money laundering.

Binance maintains that it complies with all laws in France and in every other market where it operates.

In June, the US Securities & Exchange Commission accused Binance and its founder, Changpeng Zhao, of mishandling customer funds, misleading investors and regulators, and violating securities rules.

Binance has labeled the SEC's action as "disappointing" and expressed its intention to "vigorously" defend its platform.

Both Zhao and Binance are also facing a lawsuit from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

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