SEC Orders Removal of Binance from Apple, Google App Stores

The Philippines’ Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ordered Apple and Google to remove Binance’s app from their app stores, citing concerns about investor protection and Binance’s alleged violation of Philippine securities laws.

The SEC said in a news release that Binance was operating as an unregistered broker selling or offering unregistered securities, posing a threat to Filipino investors’ financial security.

“The SEC has identified [Binance] and concluded that the public’s continued access to these websites/apps poses a threat to the security of the funds of investing Filipinos,” SEC Chairperson Emilio B. Aquino wrote in the letter.

The press release also cited Republic Act no. 8799, or The Securities Regulation Code, where “the sale or offer of unregistered securities to Filipinos and operating as an unregistered broker constitutes a violation” as one of the reasons for the SEC order.

The SEC accused Binance of using social media promotions to encourage Filipinos to invest and trade on its platforms without proper authorization. It also urged Filipino investors to close their positions and transfer their holdings to registered crypto wallets, adding that the removal of the platform from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store will prevent such illegal activities in the Philippines.

“Removing and blocking applications of Binance will ‘prevent the further proliferation of its illegal activities in the country, and to protect the investing public from its detrimental effects on our economy,’ Aquino added in the letter.

The SEC also seems not content with the removal of the app from app stores, as this latest development follows their November 2023 request for the National Telecommunications Commission to block access to the Binance website and other means of online presence they currently have.

A public warning has also been served against the use of the Binance platform. (GFB)