Binance.US Hires Former SEC Director In Defence to Fraud and Manipulation Charges

After strong allegations from the US SEC last week, Binance.US is now preparing its defense and has recently hired four lawyers from Milbank LLP, along with George Canellos, the co-director of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s enforcement division.

Binance.US faces charges of operating as an illegal securities exchange. Canellos is currently the global head of the litigation and arbitration group at Milbank. He has previously supervised over 1,300 attorneys at the SEC on several investigations. Commenting on hiring George Canellos, John Reed Stark, former head of SEC’s Office of Internet Enforcement said:

“Canellos possesses a rare and remarkably special combination of skill sets — having served as both an SEC prosecutor and a DOJ prosecutor. Think Liam Neeson meets Perry Mason”.

As said, three other attorneys will also be joining the defense team for Binance.US. On June 5, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Binance.US, the global Binance exchange, and its owner Changpeng Zhao. The lawsuit accuses them of breaking securities laws in the US by mishandling customer funds and misleading investors and regulators. To protect customer funds, the SEC asked the court to freeze Binance.US’s assets temporarily. Binance has denied the allegations made by the SEC.

Following the SEC action, several banks showed the intent to cut ties with Binance.US after which it decide to suspend USD deposits.

Binance.US Defends Fraud and Manipulation Charges

On Monday, Binance.US submitted a new court filing wherein they noted that the exchange has “made significant efforts” in order to cooperate with the US SEC since December 2020.

It is the first time the company has disputed the claims made by the SEC, which accused Binance.US and its parent company of redirecting over $12 billion in customer assets to funds controlled by Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao, the owner and founder.

The US SEC has also accused Zhao of commingling customer assets along with funds controlled by the Binance chief. Responding to it, lawyers representing Binance.US’s parent company, BAM Trading, said it “maintains its customers’ fiat currency in segregated accounts maintained with its banking partners, separate from any corporate funds.”

Binance.US acknowledged that Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao owns the bank account of BAM Trading but denied that he has signatory authority over the account. The SEC, on the other hand, argues that Zhao has control over those bank accounts, which indicates a lack of separation between Binance and Binance.US. It is believed that Zhao owns a controlling stake in both entities.

Here’s a glimpse into the share of Binance.US has tanked over the last two months, now at just 4.8%.

In just 2 months, https://t.co/pup2WYms9R's market share has fallen from more than 20% to just 4.8% relative to its closest U.S. competitors 👀 pic.twitter.com/Rm2DxJ9fAL

— Kaiko (@KaikoData) June 12, 2023