Binance has withdrawn its application for an Abu Dhabi license, the latest sign that the giant cryptocurrency exchange is reviewing its global structure amid mounting regulatory pressure.

A Binance unit called BV Investment Management has withdrawn its application to Abu Dhabi’s financial regulator, a Binance spokesman said Thursday.

The application, filed a year ago and withdrawn on Nov. 7, would have allowed the company to manage a collective investment fund, according to the regulator’s website.

“In assessing our licensing needs around the world, we decided that this application was not necessary,” the Binance spokesman said.

The Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) Abu Dhabi Global Market declined to comment.

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao stepped down as CEO last month after pleading guilty to violating U.S. anti-money laundering laws. The exchange agreed to pay more than $4.3 billion to settle a years-long U.S. investigation.

The decision to revoke the license was “unrelated” to the U.S. settlement, a Binance spokesman said.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE), which aims to become a hub for digital assets, has been a key location for Binance. Binance has regulatory approvals in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, according to its website.

Last year, Binance said it was recruiting more than 100 employees in Dubai to help shape cryptocurrency regulations.

Former CEO Zhao, a Canadian citizen born in China, also became a UAE citizen at his invitation, according to U.S. court documents. Zhao was listed as the owner of two properties in Dubai, the documents said.

New CEO Richard Teng, speaking at a Financial Times conference in London on Tuesday, said the company’s Middle East and North Africa headquarters is in Dubai.

He said the company would announce the location of its global headquarters “in due course,” but declined to give further details on when that would be done.

This year, Binance has refused to obtain a license in Germany, abandoned Cyprus and announced its withdrawal from the Netherlands. Financial regulators ordered it to stop operating in Belgium, but in August it said it had set up a Polish company to serve customers in Belgium.

Binance said the withdrawal from Cyprus was due to the need to focus on “fewer regulated entities in the EU,” including France, Italy and Spain, ahead of the implementation of European Union rules on cryptoassets.

Binance has also stopped accepting new users in the UK and said it intends to sell its Russian business. In Australia, regulators revoked the financial services license of Binance’s derivatives business.

Last week, the securities regulator in the Philippines said it had begun the process of blocking Binance.

A Binance spokesman said Thursday that the company will continue to work with regulators to “deliver world-class services and offerings in the Middle East and beyond.”