Former CEO Changpeng Zhao cannot be Binance's beneficiary if it wants to keep its French license.
Binance France has new shareholders who own 100% of the company equally between them. The move was necessary after the country’s Financial Markets Authority (AMF) sent the company a warning in December.
According to a blog post, the AMF informed Binance France that it had to take action in response to the problems that arose between the original beneficial owner and the United States Justice Department, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. In other words, former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao could no longer own the company.
The post indicated that Zhao had already withdrawn from the company. He pleaded guilty to the U.S. charges in November and has been sentenced to four months in prison in the United States, although he has yet to begin his prison term.