Judge denies motion from Binance regarding allegedly 'misleading' SEC statements
A federal judge overseeing the lawsuit between Binance.US, Binance Holdings Limited and CEO Changpeng "CZ” Zhao and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has denied a motion which could have stopped the financial regulator from issuing public statements related to the case.
In a June 26 ruling in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Judge Amy Berman Jackson suggested it was unnecessary for the court to intervene regarding the basis for a motion from parties affiliated with Binance and Binance.US. The legal team filed a motion on June 21 alleging that the SEC misled the U.S. public in statements issued over the securities lawsuit, which had the potential of “tainting the jury pool” and introducing “unwarranted confusion into the marketplace”.
“While all of the lawyers in this case should adhere to their ethical obligations at all times, it is not apparent that Court intervention to reiterate that point is needed at this time, or that it is necessary or appropriate for the Court to get involved in wordsmithing the parties' press releases,” said Judge Jackson. “Nor is it clear that the agency's public relations efforts to date will materially affect proceedings in this case.”
The complaint stemmed from a June 17 press release from the SEC, in which enforcement director Gurbir Grewal claimed CZ and Binance could “commingle customer assets or divert customer assets as they please”. Binance's and Binance.US' legal teams said the SEC statements were “misleading” and largely denied the allegations.
Related: Binance reverses decision to delist privacy coins in Europe
Binance, Binance.US and CZ are all targets of a lawsuit filed by the SEC on June 5 alleging the exchanges offered
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