The Philippines Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) warns citizens against investing with the crypto exchange Binance after Infrawatch PH’s complaint asking to ban Binance in the Philippines.
The Philippine SEC responded to Infrawatch PH’s twelve-page complaint that urged the SEC to take action against Binance for non-compliance.
SEC stated in the letter, “Consequently, it does not possess the necessary authority and or license to solicit investments as only registered corporations can apply for and be issued the necessary licenses to solicit investments.”
Infrawatch PH had sent a letter to the central bank, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), asking that Binance be banned and not allowed to operate in the country without the necessary permissions.
BSP had published the “Guidelines for Virtual Currency Exchanges” under Circular No. 944 of 2017 which had restated that virtual currencies are not legal tender and are neither issued nor guaranteed by any government entity.
The guidelines further read, “To be qualified to engage in VC trading business, a Certificate of Registration (“COR”) to operate as a RTC [Remittance and Transfer Company] must be obtained from BSP.”
To be an RTC, the firm must be registered and should have minimum capital requirements, internal controls, regulatory reporting, and anti-money laundering law compliance, along with other requirements.
SEC, on the other hand has asked “Binance victims” to lodge a notarized complaint with the department and has also warned people not to invest in the platform.
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