The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has accused Binance.US of not cooperating in the ongoing investigations against the crypto exchange according to a Sept. 14 court filing.
In its court filing, the SEC notes that Binance.US’ holding company, called BAM, submitted only 220 documents during the investigation.. Many of the documents submitted under the Consent Order “consist of incomprehensible screenshots and documents without a date or signature.”
The SEC added that BAM refused to produce witnesses material to its testimony and only agreed to four witness statements that it unilaterally deemed appropriate. and said:
“It has responded to requests for relevant notices with general objections and has refused to produce documents maintained in the normal course of its business on the grounds that such documents do not exist, only for the SEC to later obtain such documents from other sources.”
The SEC also raised concerns about Binance.US’ use of Ceffu, a wallet custody software owned by global firm Binance Holdings Ltd. (BAM).. The SEC found that BAM made inconsistent statements about Ceffu and Binance’s involvement in the holding company and the management of customer funds.
The SEC said that BAM initially claimed that Ceffu was BAM’s provider of wallet custody software and services, but later stated that Binance was BAM’s provider of wallet custody software.. Regulators expressed concerns that the crypto exchange’s use of Ceffu violates a previous agreement aimed at preventing the diversion of funds abroad.
The SEC filed a lawsuit against Binance on June 5, charging 13 charges against the crypto exchange, including unregistered securities offerings, Simple Earn and BNB Vault products, and its staking program. The SEC claimed that Binance.com, Binance.US and BAM Trading should have registered as a clearinghouse, broker-dealer and exchange, respectively. The unregistered offering and sales of the Binance.US Stake-as-a-Service program also required BAM Trading to register as a broker-dealer.
The SEC’s latest allegations against Binance.US come amid an internal crisis at the exchange. Binance.US CEO Brian Shorder joins the long list of senior Binance executives who have left the company this year whereupon the exchange’s chief legal officer and chief risk officer resigned within days.
Binance.US did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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