Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) Issues Public Warning to Foreign Crypto Exchange, SB 101

Recent news coverage by Crypto News revealed that the Japanese Financial Services Agency (FSA) recently caught a crypto exchange that was neither registered nor abided by Japanese guidelines (https://cryptonews.com/news/japan-s-regulator-just-caught-another-crypto-intruder-3392.htm). This accusation was supposedly made in regard to SB 101, which has been operating without the required licenses. As per the claims made, a letter has since been issued to the crypto exchange.

The closest translation of the original Japanese letter noted that the virtual currency exchange, SB 101 went against “the third part of the Administrative Guidelines: Financial Company Relationship […].” Moreover, the letter noted that the location of said exchange is Gibraltar, which is on Spain’s south coast. In addition to the fact that a foreign crypto exchange has been involved, the FSA shared that they disapprove of the former’s attempts in trying to entice Japanese residents.

As for the proclaimed evidence of reeling in Japanese residents, the FSA shared that a “Japanese citizen used the platform to conduct a transaction in the Atomic Coin cryptocurrency,” reports Crypto News. Since the public announcement, neither the website nor the related, Japanese content has been stripped off of the internet (whether or not this still holds is unclear).

Surprisingly, this isn’t FSA’s first warning to SB 101, as the agency had privately addressed the concern. However, the latter failed to respond in an appropriate and timely matter, thus forcing the FSA to issue a public warning. The likes of SB 101 are apparently not the first of its kind, but the third so far, with Binance and Blockchain Laboratory holding the first two spots on their list.

The increasing growth of foreign crypto businesses attempting to “attract” Japanese residents has since forced the FSA to take stern action on such matters. In particular, they have warned such businesses that failing to carry the necessary licenses will result in conflict with Japanese laws such as the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act.