Key Takeaways:
- Binance France has new ownership after former CEO Changpeng Zhao’s exit due to U.S. regulatory issues.
- The new shareholders, reportedly Lihua He and Yulong Yan, are members of Binance’s founding team.
- Binance France, approved by AMF in May 2022, faces ongoing regulatory challenges in Europe.
Binance France has undergone a change in ownership following a warning from the Financial Markets Authority (AMF) in December.
The company is now owned equally by new shareholders, after former CEO Changpeng Zhao exited the company due to regulatory issues involving the U.S. Justice Department, CFTC, and the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Zhao pleaded guilty to U.S. charges in November and is awaiting a four-month prison sentence.
BINANCE FRANCE DUMPS CZ AMID HOPES IT WON’T BE SHUT DOWN IN EUROPE
— BSCN (@BSCNews) May 28, 2024
– @Binance France has replaced its founder @CZ_Binance with two new company shareholders, owing to European regulatory pressure.
– French regulations enforce that a company’s majority shareholder cannot be a… https://t.co/OVN15EIdqt pic.twitter.com/FJ7jrXFZzB
The new shareholders are reportedly Lihua He and Yulong Yan, both members of Binance’s founding team, though Binance France did not disclose their names officially.
Yan, identified as Allan Yan in the Binance white paper, was a co-founder of Bijie Tech, a company Zhao established before Binance.
Binance France drops CZ and names two new shareholders to preserve European footholdhttps://t.co/21W81shOoB
— DL News (@DLNewsInfo) May 28, 2024
Binance France, which received AMF approval in May 2022 after operating illegally in France since 2020, has faced multiple regulatory challenges.
Under the MiCA regulations, its license could extend to all 27 EU member states.
🔴 @cz_binance is no longer a shareholder of Binance France
— The Big Whale 🐳 (@TheBigWhale_) May 28, 2024
It was essential that the founder of the exchange platform is no longer the main shareholder since his conviction in the US so that @binance can maintain its CASP registration https://t.co/XKRmwngiCP
However, Binance has struggled with anti-money laundering investigations, securing banking partners, and obtaining licenses in other European countries, including the Netherlands and Belgium.
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