Technology

US SEC And Binance Submits Joint Status Report – Crypto News

Published

2 years ago

October 12, 2023

Dripp

Plaintiff the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and defendants Binance Holdings, Binance.US, and CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao have submitted their positions in a joint status report to the District Court of Columbia. Despite Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui’s efforts to keep things moving in the lawsuit, the SEC and Binance’s stance on document discovery and depositions aren’t moving smoothly.

Binance and SEC’s Joint Status Report

Binance, Binance.US, and CEO CZ, along with the U.S. SEC submitted the joint status report late October 11, according to filings in the court. In response to the court’s minute order on September 18 to work on the various discovery requests and depositions together, both parties have failed to reach any conclusion on discovery requests.

However, BAM (Binance.US) and the SEC have confirmed the next deposition for October 18, with several to follow through the rest of October and November. The SEC argues BAM has only produced approximately 382 and refuses to provide its position on producing the remaining documents as requested by the agency under the consent order.

BAM said the SEC’s s requests since the September 18 hearing are unreasonable. The exchange believes the SEC’s approach is inconsistent with the consent order.

“Since the hearing, the SEC has demanded that BAM agree to nine additional depositions, including depositions of six current shareholders, one former shareholder, BAM’s Head of Product, and a deposition under a federal rule. The SEC also served BAM with over 60 document requests.”

Moreover, BAM asserts it licenses wallet custody software from BHL and has no relationship with Ceffu. Binance.US has agreed to provide evidence on it, but will not conduct a broad search without any date restriction.

Binance and CEO CZ’s Positions

The SEC sends new requests to Binance and CEO CZ for documents and depositions. The SEC, Binance, and CZ will meet and discuss these requests. Binance and CZ earlier requested the court to dismiss the lawsuit claiming that the securities regulator overreaching its authority.

The crypto community awaits a crucial hearing on October 12 seeking some developments in the lawsuit. Meanwhile, the SEC and Binance request the court enter the protective order.

Also Read: