U.S. Court Orders Most of SEC’s Claims Against Binance to Proceed
On June 28, a memorandum of opinion and order was filed on the case brought by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against cryptocurrency exchange Binance, with Judge Amy Berman Jackson noting that the commission’s claims regarding Binance’s staking program, the sale of Binance Coin (BNB) after its initial coin offering as well as anti-fraud violations will proceed.
According to the SEC’s allegations, Binance’s provision and sales of cryptocurrency assets and related programs without a registration statement; not registering as an exchange, as a broker-dealer or broker, or as a clearing agency; and making false statements to investors and engaging in acts and practices that operated as fraud upon purchasers, are violations of relevant laws.
Binance had previously asked the court to dismiss the commission’s lawsuit claiming that it exceeded its legal authority, but Judge Jackson has ordered that most of the SEC’s action will move forward, while the crypto exchange’s motions to dismiss were granted in part and denied in part.
The court dismissed counts relating to “secondary sales of BNB, by sellers other than Binance,” “claim against Binance concerning sales of BUSD,” and “claim against Binance regarding BNB Vault will proceed, and the claim as to Simple Earn.”
Conversely, motions moving forward include those “relating to the initial coin offering of BNB and Binance’s ongoing sales of BNB after the ICO,” “claim that BAM Trading offered and sold its Staking Program as an investment contract,” “claims that Binance and BAM Trading failed to register under the Exchange Act,” “claims against defendant Zhao as a control person over Binance and BAM Trading for their alleged violations of the Exchange Act,” and “claim that BAM Management and BAM Trading violated the anti-fraud provisions of the Securities Act.”
A court hearing has been scheduled on the motions allowed to move forward.