The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has taken issue with Binance.US's perceived lack of cooperation during its ongoing investigation into the cryptocurrency exchange, as outlined in a court filing on September 14.
According to the SEC, Binance.US's holding company, BAM, provided a meager 220 documents during the investigation, with many of these documents being deemed insufficient. The submissions were said to consist of screenshots and documents lacking dates or signatures, making them hard to understand or authenticate.
Furthermore, the SEC accused BAM of refusing to provide essential witness testimony, consenting only to the testimony of four witnesses, as per its discretion. This selective approach raised concerns about the completeness of the provided information. The SEC also alleged that Binance.US made sweeping objections to requests for related communications, and in some instances, certain claimed documents didn't exist, only for the SEC to subsequently obtain them from other sources.
The SEC also expressed concerns about Binance. US's use of Ceffu, wallet hosting software provided by the global entity Binance Holdings Ltd. Initially, BAM stated that Ceffu was its wallet hosting software and services provider, but later claimed that Binance provided these services. The The SEC finds these statements inconsistent and is particularly concerned about the possibility of cryptocurrency exchanges using Ceffu to transfer funds abroad, which could violate previous agreements designed to prevent such transfers.
This development follows the SEC's lawsuit against Binance on June 5, which accused the cryptocurrency exchange of various violations, including unregistered securities offerings, its staking scheme, and not registering as a clearing agency, broker-dealer, and exchange where required. These charges were directed at Binance.com, Binance.US, and BAM Trading, the latter of which is registered as a broker-dealer.
This latest critique from the SEC emerges amid a series of internal issues at Binance, with CEO Brian Shroder's departure being the most recent in a string of executive resignations from the exchange this year.
