“Binance is not exiting Europe,” stated Gillian Lynch, the head of Europe and the United Kingdom, after the company’s attempt to obtain a license in Greece for offering services like crypto trading within the EU fell through.
“We may just find an alternate route to being authorized,” she added. “If it’s not Greece, I’m exploring other options.”
Her remarks suggest that Binance is on a potential collision path with European regulators. The company has a week to acquire a license before its current operating authorization in Europe lapses, necessitating the winding down of its EU activities.
According to two sources familiar with the situation, Binance has engaged in discussions with regulators in Ireland, Latvia, and Greece but has met with pushback in each of those countries.
They indicated that officials were worried about the company’s history of penalties for money laundering, its intricate international framework, and what they perceived as a culture of risk-taking.
Regulatory bodies in the three nations either declined to comment or did not respond.
The outreach to multiple regulators underscores the challenges faced by one of the largest cryptocurrency companies in navigating regulatory hurdles to obtain an EU license.
Lynch mentioned that Binance was unaware of the reasons behind the denial and had previously anticipated that the Greek regulator would approve their application.
She noted that Binance had reached out to four or five regulators but had only submitted one application, specifically to Greece.
When questioned about Binance’s previous issues, Lynch emphasized that the company had made significant investments in compliance and internal controls, had approximately 1,500 staff focused on compliance, and had no outstanding matters related to its application.
