Despite regulatory setback, Binance still plans to become a registered UK company

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said the exchange plans to expand to the UK in the next six to 18 months despite being ordered to halt trading by UK regulators earlier this year.

Britain's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) revoked Binance's ability to trade in the U.K. in June, when regulators launched a sweeping crackdown on the cryptocurrency exchange. Binance is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world.

In order to become a crypto asset company registered in the UK, the platform must comply with money laundering and terrorism financing controls. To meet these requirements, Zhao said the company is considering setting up a dedicated company to operate in the U.K. — similar to its Binance.US subsidiary.

Changpeng Zhao told cointelegraph on Dec. 4 that Binance plans to apply for an FCA license and has hired “some former regulators from the UK” and “hundreds of compliance personnel” since the FCA issued a notice in June.

In October, the cryptocurrency exchange giant hired the former head of international relations at the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) as its chief regulatory liaison officer to foster better relations with international regulators.

Zhao also said the platform is "fully re-cooperating" with regulators and is making "a number of very substantial changes" to "product offerings, internal processes, and the way it works with regulators."

With the FCA approval, Binance can offer products such as futures and derivatives in the UK. In September, as regulators continued to ramp up their efforts, Binance announced that Australian users would have 90 days to close out their positions in futures, options, and leveraged tokens.

Binance also previously suspended derivatives trading for users in Germany, Italy and the Netherlands as part of a broader plan to cease offering these products across Europe.

In August, the FCA issued a supervisory notice saying it was "incapable" of effectively regulating Binance because it did not respond to inquiries about its headquarters.

Binance, which has denied all allegations of market manipulation, still faces resistance from numerous jurisdictions including Germany, Malaysia and South Korea.