In a recent development, some documents from the US Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) case against cryptocurrency exchange Binance are set to become accessible. These documents, previously kept sealed or redacted at the SEC's request, are now to be unsealed as per a court order.
The order was issued on September 15 by Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui of the District Court for the District of Columbia. It grants the SEC's motion to either unseal or remove redactions in certain documents. Specifically, the order pertains to 18 sealed documents and nine partially sealed or redacted documents. Binance and any non-party asserting confidentiality claims on documents related to the SEC's motion will have the opportunity to challenge this unsealing within a seven-day window, and the SEC will then have seven days to respond to those challenges.
Notably, all of these sealed documents were initially filed under docket number "File 102" on August 28. There were speculations that these documents might be related to the US Department of Justice's investigation into Binance. Additionally, among the partially sealed documents are a total of 117 pages, which encompass internal Binance.US materials, emails, and SEC court filings. This collection includes a memo filed on September 14 that pertains to Binance.US's compliance with the SEC's discovery efforts.
It's important to note that while this order addresses some sealed documents, it does not encompass all the sealed documents filed in the case. Certain filings, like the proposed order submitted by Binance.US's holding company BAM on September 11, along with the SEC's objection papers and eight accompanying exhibits, remain under seal and were not specifically mentioned in the recent order.
The SEC's case against Binance, Binance.US, and its CEO Changpeng Zhao was initiated in June, alleging unregistered securities operations and various other misconduct, including wash sales. Binance.US sought a protective order from the SEC back in August, signaling ongoing legal developments in this high-profile case.
