• Belgium’s Financial Services and Markets Authority has ordered Binance to cease its operations in the country. 
• The regulator has taken issue with the exchange offering crypto services from non-EEA countries. 
• The FSMA has indicated that the crypto exchange may have to face criminal charges for its actions. 
• The exchange has been asked to return all crypto assets belonging to Belgian customers. 

The Financial Services and Markets Authority of Belgium has ordered Binance to immediately cease its operations in the country and stop offering crypto and custody services to Belgian customers. The order comes amid mounting legal troubles for the crypto exchange, which was sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this month for illegally operating a securities exchange in the country. 

Binance May Be Liable For Criminal Charges In Belgium

According to a press release by Belgium’s Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA), Binance has been ordered to take immediate measures to return crypto assets belonging to Belgian clients. The regulator directed the crypto exchange to contact their clients and entertain any instructions related to the return of their assets. The FSMA accused Binance of violating a law that prevents firms from non-European Economic Area countries from offering services in Belgium. 

Persons or firms governed by the law of a country that is not a member of the European Economic Area are prohibited from offering or providing, within Belgium, by way of a professional activity – even if supplementary or ancillary – exchange services between virtual currencies and legal currencies or custody wallet services.

As per the FSMA, several requests were made to Binance for information related to its operations from an EEA member country. The exchange reportedly failed to demonstrate that the crypto services being provided in Belgium were carried out from a legal entity governed by an EEA country. The regulator further stated that the Crown Prosecutor of Brussels had been informed of Binance’s acts which are liable to constitute a criminal offense.