YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) – On June 17, the US District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Amy Berman Jackson approved the “Proposed Stipulation and Consent Order,” an agreement Binance.US and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reached on June 14.
Pursuant to the stipulation of the parties jointly proposing the terms of a consent decree governing the conduct of the parties pending the resolution of this case on the merits, and subject to the protective order to be entered in this case, it is hereby ORDERED:
read the official court order.
Additionally, the judge ordered Binance.US to establish new wallets and the SEC to transfer all customer crypto assets to those new wallets within 14 days. Notably, the mentioned agreement concerned Binance.US employee payments. Here’s more context.
Stipulating Defendants shall 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 fiat currency and crypto assets that are deposited, held, traded, or accrued by customers, including affiliated and non-affiliated liquidity providers (hereinafter referred to as “Customers”) on the crypto trading platform Binance.US
further stated the document.
Binance.US will be able to pay its employees while pledging not to transfer funds
Earlier in the week, the SEC pushed a motion to freeze all the assets on Binance.US. However, both parties agreed to work on a deal that avoids the total asset freeze.
On June 13, US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said the two sides “aren’t that far apart” on ways to protect billions of dollars in customer funds without shutting the exchange down while the SEC’s lawsuit proceeds.
Also, Binance proposed a compromise that would include transferring US customer crypto assets to new wallets with new private keys that would be under the sole control of US-based officers at Binance.US. The platform saw it as an adequate response to the SEC’s request for an asset freeze.
As part of its proposal, the exchange also asked permission to keep paying employees and cover operating costs while pledging that no assets would be transferred or payments made to benefit any Binance entity without a judge’s order.
SEC lawsuit against Binance
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against Binance and its chief executive Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, for “violating US securities laws,” as reported on June 5.
This case arises from the Defendants’ blatant disregard of the federal securities laws and the investor and market protections these laws provide. In so doing, Defendants have enriched themselves by billions of U.S. dollars while placing investors’ assets at significant risk.
read the allegations against Binance and its CEO.
The regulator also alleged that Binance has “unlawfully solicited US investors to buy, sell, and trade crypto asset securities through unregistered trading platforms.” In doing so, the exchange has engaged in “multiple unregistered offers and sales of crypto asset securities and other investment schemes,” the SEC claimed.
Regulators further alleged that Binance has made “misrepresentations to investors” about controls they claimed to have implemented on Binance’s US platform.
The SEC allegations stated that the exchange raised “approximately $200 million from private investors” and attracted billions of dollars in trading volume from investors seeking to transact on the Binance.US platform.
