Binance Hires Former DOJ Prosecutor for SEC Lawsuit Defense: Bloomberg

The largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, Binance Holdings Ltd., has engaged the services of a former white-collar prosecutor from the Department of Justice to serve as its legal representative in the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit, as per a court filing released on Thursday. CoinGape reported yesterday Binance fights back SEC, filed a lawsuit for misleading allegations.

Binance Prosecution In Lawsuit

According to the filing, M. Kendall Day will act as counsel for Binance in the SEC case, Bloomberg reports. Day, who currently works as a partner at the Washington DC office of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, previously served as the acting deputy assistant attorney general at the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice for 15 years, as stated in his biography on the Gibson Dunn website.

During his tenure at the Department of Justice, Day held the position of chief of the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, where he had nationwide oversight over the department’s anti-money laundering initiatives. This included handling money laundering charges, deferred prosecution agreements, and non-prosecution agreements involving financial institutions, as stated on the Gibson Dunn website.

In recent weeks, Binance and Binance.US have been bolstering their legal team for the SEC case. The company has also hired George Canellos, a former co-director of enforcement at the SEC.

The Fight Against The SEC

The SEC recently filed charges against Binance, its CEO Changpeng Zhao, and another affiliated exchange called Binance.US, accusing them of mishandling customer funds, providing misleading information to investors and regulators, and violating securities regulations. The SEC is also seeking the return of cryptocurrency owned by US customers.

The exchange has been under investigation by various US agencies, including the Department of Justice. Few days back, Binance.US made a deal with SEC which would restrict Binance Global officials from accessing customer funds. CZ expressed relief over the same through a tweet on June 17.