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Philippines orders Google, Apple to remove Binance from app stores

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Zhao Changpeng, founder and chief executive officer of Binance, attends the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France June 16, 2022. 

Benoit Tessier | Reuters

The Philippines’ Securities and Exchange Commission has ordered Google and Apple to remove cryptocurrency exchange Binance from their app stores.

In a press release out Tuesday, the regulator said it had sent letters to Google and Apple requesting the removal of applications controlled by Binance from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store, respectively.

SEC Chairperson Emilio Aquino said the Philippine public’s continued access to Binance sites and apps “poses a threat to the security of the funds of investing Filipinos.”

The agency accused Binance of offering unregistered securities to Filipinos and operating as an unregistered broker, adding that this violates the country’s securities laws.

Binance, Google and Apple were not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.

Aquino said that blocking Binance from the Google and Apple app stores would help “prevent the further proliferation of its illegal activities in the country, and to protect the investing public from its detrimental effects on our economy.”

The Philippines’ National Telecommunications Commission has previously moved to block access to websites used by Binance in the country.

The SEC says it earlier warned the Philippine public against using Binance and began studying the possibility of blocking Binance’s services in the Philippines as early as November last year.

The SEC said Binance has been actively promoting its services on social media to attract funds from Filipinos, despite not being licensed by the regulator.

The watchdog said it is urging Filipinos with investments in Binance to immediately close their positions, or to transfer their crypto holdings to their own crypto wallets or exchanges registered in the Philippines.

The action adds to a litany of woes for Binance, which recently replaced its CEO with Richard Teng, the former chief of UAE regulator Abu Dhabi Global Markets, in November 2023, after a U.S. government settlement ordering the company to pay a $4.3 billion fine for alleged money laundering violations.

Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao was charged with violating the Bank Secrecy Act and agreed to step down. Zhao’s sentencing is expected to take place on April 30.

Binance has separately been sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission over alleged mishandling of customer assets and the operation of an illegal, unregistered exchange in the U.S.

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How buy now, payer later apps could be crushing your credit

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Small, everyday purchases like a meal from DoorDash are now able to be financed through eat now, pay later options — a practice that some experts deem “predatory.”

“You’ve got to have enough sense to not follow the urge to finance a taco, okay? You have got to be an adult,” career coach Ken Coleman told “The Big Money Show,” Wednesday. 

“This is predatory, and it’s going to get a lot of people in deep trouble.”

RISKS OF BUY NOW, PAY LATER: ‘TICKET TO OVERSPENDING,’ EXPERT SAYS

klarna, doordash

DoorDash and Klarna are now partnering up to extend buy now, pay later options to consumers. (Reuters, Getty / Getty Images)

Financial wellness experts are continuously sounding the alarm to cash-strapped consumers, warning them of the devastating impact this financial strategy could have on their credit score as some lenders will begin reporting those loans to credit agencies.

Consumers may risk getting hit with late fees and interest rates, similar to credit cards. 

“So your sandwich might show up on your FICO score, especially if you pay for it late,” FOX Business’ Jackie DeAngelis explained.

EXPERTS WARN HIDDEN RISKS OF BUY NOW, PAY LATER

Major players like Affirm, Afterpay, and Klarna have risen to prominence at a time when Americans continue to grapple with persisting inflation, high interest rates and student loan payments, which resumed in October 2023 after a pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“The Big Money Show” co-host Taylor Riggs offered a different perspective, suggesting that company CEOs have a “duty” to attract as many customers as they want. 

“Unfortunately for me, this always comes down to financial literacy — which I know is so much in your heart about training people to save now by later,” she told Coleman, who regularly offers financial advice to callers on “The Ramsey Show.”

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Coleman continued to come to the defense of financially “desperate” consumers, arguing that companies are targeting “immature” customers. 

“I’m for American businesses being able to do whatever they want to do under the law. That’s fine. But let’s still call it what it is: it’s predatory, and they know who their customers are,” Coleman concluded, “And I’m telling you, they’re talking about weak-minded, immature, desperate people.”

FOX Business’ Daniella Genovese contributed to this report.

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