US Judge Amy Berman Jackson approved a settlement between Binance.US, Binance and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on June 17, dismissing an earlier temporary restraining order that would freeze all Binance.US assets.
Judge Jackson said on June 14 that she preferred the parties to settle on their own rather than her handing down a sentence. The parties reportedly reached an agreement on June 16.
“We are pleased to inform you that the Court did not grant the SEC’s request for a temporary restraining order and asset freeze on our platform, which was clearly unjustified by both the facts and the law,” Binance.US said. On twitter.
Under the approved agreement, only Binance.US employees will have access to client funds until the dispute is resolved. Customers based in the US will be able to continue to withdraw funds during this period.
We want to provide an update on the current battle finds itself in with the SEC. We are pleased to inform you that the Court did not grant the SEC’s request for a TRO and freeze of assets on our platform which was clearly unjustified by both the facts and…
—Binance.US (@BinanceUS) June 17, 2023
The agreement between the exchange and the US regulator also prevents any access by global Binance officials to wallet private keys, hardware wallets or root access to Binance.US Amazon Web Services tools.
“There has never been any evidence presented by the SEC regarding the misuse of client assets. In fact, the SEC’s lawyers conceded in court earlier this week, when asked by the judge, that they had no no evidence to suggest that such a thing had occurred,” Binance.US wrote in connection with the allegations of mismanagement of funds.
In a Twitter comment on the case, former SEC Internet Watchdog chief John Reed Stark noted that the deal includes a “particularly interesting provision” on the repatriation of certain assets to the US.
Defendants will repatriate to the United States, transfer to BAM Trading, and confirm that BAM Trading maintains possession, custody, and control in the United States of all money and crypto assets deposited, held, traded, or accumulated by clients. […]”says the agreement.
Furthermore, the agreement states that Binance.US must take immediate steps to ensure “a verified written accounting” of accounts related to BAM entities valued at more than $1,000.
The SEC filed an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order on Binance.US on June 6, after accusing Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao of having access to Binance.US customer funds in a lawsuit. The regulator alleged Zhao moved $12 billion of Binance’s funds through an entity he controlled called Merit Peak.
The SEC filed an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order on Binance.US on June 6, after accusing Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao of having access to Binance.US client funds in a demand. The regulator alleged that Zhao moved $12 billion of funds from Binance through an entity he controlled called Merit Peak.
Prior to the restraining order hearing, Binance.US and Zhao filed a joint memorandum denying any mishandling of the funds. According to them, the SEC has been unable to identify a single case where funds from Binance.US clients have been misused.
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