Binance France Changes Ownership After Regulator Warning

Binance France must exclude former CEO Changpeng Zhao as a beneficiary to comply with French regulatory requirements and maintain its license

Binance France has acquired new shareholders who each possess an equal ownership stake of 100% in the company. The action was imperative after the company received a December warning from the country’s Financial Markets Authority (AMF).

The AMF notified Binance France, as stated in a blog post that it was obligated to respond to the issues that emerged between the initial beneficial owner and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network of the Treasury, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and United States Justice Department. That is to say, former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao could not retain ownership of the organization.

According to the post, Zhao had reportedly withdrawn from the organization. He entered a guilty plea to the allegations brought against him in the United States in November and was subsequently given a four-month prison sentence, the commencement of which has not yet transpired.

Binance France stated that both new benefactors were Binance’s founding team members but did not disclose their identities. According to the Pappers information service, their names are Yulong Yan and Lihua He. Limited details are accessible regarding both individuals.

Presumably, the Binance white paper designates Yan as the initial product director, Allan Yan. Yan co-founded Bijie Tech, a firm founded by Zhao before Binance, to supply software to cryptocurrency exchanges. In 2017, that Shanghai-based company ceased operations. The Lihua There is no reference to him in that document.

The Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulations permit a European Union (EU) member state to passport its license to the remaining 27 member states. Reportedly, Binance obtained AMF authorization in May 2022, after its illicit operations within the jurisdiction since 2020. Reportedly, anti-money laundering violations were also being investigated before Zhao’s arraignment in the United States.

In addition, Binance France encountered difficulties securing a banking partner in France after the CFTC’s lawsuit against the organization in March 2023. Stéphanie Cabossioras, executive director of Binance France, was among a group of departing executives in October 2023.

Binance was denied a license to operate as a virtual asset service provider in the Netherlands in June, and regulators ceased operations in Belgium the same month.