The Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) has said that despite media reports of Binance being incorporated in the territory, it is not licensed by the regulator to operate a crypto exchange business from or within the Islands.

In an announcement published on Friday, the CIMA said it is informing the public that none of Binance, the Binance Group or Binance Holdings Limited is under its regulatory oversight to run a crypto exchange business from or within the British overseas territory.

"The Authority is currently investigating whether Binance, the Binance Group, Binance Holdings Limited or any other company affiliated with this group of companies has any activities operating in or from within the Cayman Islands which may fall within the scope of the Authority’s regulatory oversight," the CIMA said in the notice but did not make any accusation of potential wrongdoings.

"Binance.com has always operated in a decentralized manner. Binance.com does not run a cryptocurrency exchange out of the Cayman Islands, as reported incorrectly in some media articles previously," a Binance spokesperson responded in a statement.

"We do however, have entities incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands performing activities that are not related to operating a crypto-exchange trading activities and permitted by law. We will work with regulators to address any questions they may have," the exchange added.

According to the Cayman Island business registration record, at least Binance Holdings Limited is incorporated as a business entity within the territory.

Cayman Islands business registration record

Global scrutiny

The CIMA added that any company incorporated the territory that operates a crypto exchange business in or from within the Islands must fulfill at least one of the two criteria.

They must be registered or licensed "in accordance with the Virtual Asset (Service Providers) Act, 2020 (“VASPA”) or be an existing regulated company that is already granted a waiver by the CIMA under the VASPA.

According to local reports, Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) must register with the CIMA by January 31 this year and the second phase of the enforcement of the law is expected to be effective in June which would include "licensing and prudential supervision."

The CIMA notice came a day after the Singapore Monetary Authority said it would review the license application again from Binance Asia Services Pte because its parent entity Binance Holdings Ltd came under regulatory scrutiny worldwide, according to a Bloomberg report.

Last week, the U.K. Financial issued a statement to bar Binance's UK entity from taking any "regulated" activities, although in practice the notice does not appear to have a direct impact the services on binance.com that is being used by U.K. customers. But it was an evidence showing how little control that regulators have over the crypto exchange giant.

Last month, Binance said it is exiting the Canadian province of Ontario amid a regulatory crackdown there and all Ontario-based users must close out all active positions by December 31, 2021.

The Japanese Financial Services Agency also issued another warning in June that Binance is still offering services to Japanese residents without having a proper license registered with the financial watchdog.

Binance said it "does not currently hold exchange operations in Japan, nor do we actively solicit Japanese users." But it declined to comment when asked if that means Binance by default allows Japanese users to visit and trade on its site. 

In May, it was reported that Binance was facing an investigation by the U.S. Internal Revenue Services and the Department of Justices. That was on top of the inquiry Binance was reportedly facing from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. But federal agencies did not accuse Binance of wrongdoing at the time.

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