Published
10 months ago on
June 07, 2023
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The SEC filed a motion in a federal court to issue a temporary restraining order to freeze the assets of two of Binance’s US units.
On Tuesday evening, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed an emergency application for a temporary restraining order to freeze the assets of BAM Management US Holdings and BAM Trading Services. The SEC alleges that Binance’s parent company and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao, secretly controlled these two units.
The agency said in a press release that relief is sought to protect Binance.US customers’ assets.
The Securities and Exchange Commission today filed an emergency action application seeking a temporary restraining order freezing assets, directing defendants to repatriate assets held for the benefit of customers of the Binance.US crypto trading platform, and seeking other emergency relief against Binance Holdings Limited, BAM Trading Services Inc., BAM Management US Holdings, Inc., and their founder, Changpeng Zhao, to ensure that Binance.US customers’ assets are protected and remain in the United States through the resolution of the SEC’s pending litigation of this matter.
In its motion, the agency said it resorted to this step following “years of violative conduct, disregard of the laws of the United States, evasion of regulatory oversight, and open questions about various financial transfers and the custody and control of Customer Assets.”
According to the complaint, Binance has shown a “blatant disregard of federal securities laws.”
Binance.US and CZ Respond
Binance.US responded to the motion on Twitter, assuring customers that “User assets remain safe and secure.”
This afternoon, the SEC filed a motion seeking a TRO and preliminary injunction against https://t.co/AZwoBOgsqS attempting to, amongst other things, freeze https://t.co/AZwoBOgsqS corporate assets. User assets remain safe and secure and the platform continues to be fully…
— Binance.US 🇺🇸 (@BinanceUS) June 6, 2023
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao further confirmed to users that the motion, if granted, only affects Binance.US.
Clarification: this could only affects https://t.co/hSHrrlF7o7, IF granted by the court.
— CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) June 6, 2023
It does NOT affect https://t.co/9rMMAmc1G9. Funds are #SAFU https://t.co/Xedzc0tyuM
The SEC Is Out for Blood
The motion to freeze Binance.US’s corporate assets comes after the agency sued Binance and Changpeng Zhao on Monday. The regulator accused the exchange of allegedly mishandling customer funds and lying to investors and regulators about its operations. It further accused Zhao and the exchange of failing to restrict US customers from its platform and misleading investors about its market surveillance controls.
Both the exchange and its CEO have denied the SEC allegations.
The SEC doubled down on its regulatory efforts on Tuesday by filing suit against fellow crypto exchange Coinbase.
According to the agency Coinbase acted as an unregistered securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency and charged it for “the unregistered offer and sale of securities in connection with its staking-as-a-service program.”
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
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