The Philippines Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) has directed Apple and Google to remove Binance app from their App stores for users in the country.
According to a news report from CoinTelegraph, the SEC had formally requested that Apple and Google to remove applications operated by Binance, the biggest crypto exchange in the world.
In a press release issued on Tuesday, the commission confirmed that the big tech companies received separate letters to that effect on April 19.
It stated: “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.”
The Chair of the SEC, Emilio Aquino, explained that Binance selling or offering unregistered securities to locals and acting as an unregistered broker was against the laws of the country’s securities regulation.
He maintained that by removing Binance applications from the Digital app marketplace the big tech companies would help reduce the spread of illegal activities in the country’s securities sector.
The latest move by the SEC follows the blocking of access to Binance websites by the SEC and the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) on March 25.
It would be recalled that the Philippines SEC had warned its citizens to desist from using Binance for investments since November last year since the crypto exchange was yet to secure a license to solicit investment from the public or operate an exchange to buy and sell securities.
Before then, an official of the commission said that Binance users were given three months to facilitate the withdrawal of their funds from the platform after which the government would no longer endorse any means to withdraw funds when the time elapse.
