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- Binance has not allowed UK clients to withdraw pounds since Tuesday according to a report.
- The service halted after Faster Payments, a money transfer company, withdrew their agreement.
- The Financial Conduct Authority banned it from performing regulated activities in June.
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Crypto exchange Binance has had to stop its UK clients from withdrawing pounds from their accounts from Tuesday, after a key partner terminated their agreement with the firm.
The company sent emails to customers informing them of the decision after Faster Payments, a money transfer company, terminated its agreement with the company, according to a report on Tuesday from Financial News.
Binance did not confirm the reason for the interruption when asked by Insider.
"We are working as quickly as we can to make payment services available to our users. We take our compliance obligations very seriously, and we are committed to working collaboratively with regulators to shape policies that protect consumers, encourage innovation, and move our industry forward," Binance said in a statement to Insider.
This is the second time the company has stopped its UK clients from withdrawing their sterling holdings. In June, Binance briefly had to halt withdrawals in pounds via Faster Payouts immediately after the UK regulator clamped down on the company.
The Financial Conduct Authority, a UK regulatory body, banned Binance from performing regulated derivatives activities last month. The FCA is taking a tougher stance on crypto-related companies that it says do not meet its anti-money laundering rules by not allowing them to register to do business in Britain.
The company is limited in terms of what derivatives it can offer its customers, such as futures and option contracts, as these are regulated activities. However, the FCA's ban did not stop UK clients from trading cryptocurrencies via Binance.com as this kind of trading is not an activity that the agency regulates.
However, a number of major consumer banks such as Barclays, TSB and Starling have also cut ties with the company and no longer allow their clients to transfer funds to Binance.
Binance is the world's largest exchange by volume as the company trades over $12 billion worth of crypto whereas, Coinbase in second place has over $1 billion according to Coingecko.
The company has now seen a number of its existing partnerships severed, such as with Clear Junction, another payments partner that cited the FCA's notice as the reason behind its decision to stop doing business with Binance on Monday. Binance will no longer be able to process pound- and euro-based payments through this provider.