German regulator warns Binance over stock tokens

[BERLIN] Germany's financial regulator BaFin warned that Binance, one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, risked being fined for offering security-tracking tokens without first publishing an investor prospectus.

On Monday, Binance said it would offer tokens denominated in the exchange's own cryptocurrency giving investors exposure to MicroStrategy, Microsoft and Apple.

These joined tokens representing Tesla and Coinbase Global that are already trading.

But the regulator said on Wednesday there seemed to be no prospectus on the exchange's website for the MicroStrategy, Tesla and Coinbase issues, a violation of European Union securities law that could result in Binance, as issuer, being fined five million euros (S$8.03 million) or 3 per cent of last year's turnover.

"BaFin has grounds to suspect that Binance Germany is selling shares in Germany in the form of 'share tokens' without offering the necessary prospectuses," it said.

"Please bear in mind that securities investments should only ever be carried out on the basis of the necessary information," it added.

It was unclear if prospectuses were available for the other traded tokens.

"Binance takes its compliance obligations very seriously and is committed to following local regulator requirements wherever we operate. We will work with regulators to address any questions they may have," a Binance spokesperson said.

Binance is backed by Vertex Venture Holdings, the venture capital arm of Temasek Holdings.

REUTERS