Binance.US Hires Former SEC Enforcement Officer Amid Lawsuit: Report

United States-based crypto exchange Binance.US hired a former enforcement officer from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as part of the legal team to defend itself against allegations of operating as an unregistered securities exchange. is kept

According to a June 12 report from Bloomberg, Binance.US has hired out Former SEC Enforcement Co-Director Jorge Canelos with the international law firm Milbank LLP along with three other attorneys. Canelos left the SEC in 2014 after serving more than 4 years in various leadership positions.

“Binance is clearly preparing for a criminal trial and continues to hire the best defense attorneys in the world,” Said Former SEC Internet Enforcement Chief John Reed Stark on Twitter. “Given the seriousness of the fraud alleged by the CFTC and SEC (which could also be the tip of the iceberg of any criminal indictment), a DOJ prosecutor would certainly be looking for someone to be convicted or convicted of crimes related to Binance.” Will demand jail time for.”

Canellos’ addition to the Binance.US legal team comes amid the US firm facing a lawsuit from the SEC alleging it failed to register an exchange, broker and clearing agency. The SEC made similar allegations against global exchange Binance in the same filing and Coinbase in a subsequent filing and sought to freeze the US exchange’s assets through a temporary restraining order.

“If the Court were to address the merits of the SEC’s proposal, it should deny that proposal,” Said Binance.US filed a petition with the SEC court to freeze assets on June 12. “The SEC’s proposed measures would effectively put an end to (Binance.US’) business. The SEC seeks, among many other things, a draconian and unduly burdensome freeze of all operations of the Company without exception.

Connected: Binance.US halts trading for dozens of USDT, BTC, BUSD pairs amid SEC lawsuit

Following the SEC actions, Binance.US announced on June 9 that it would suspend USD deposits and potentially block fiat withdrawals from June 13. The exchange cited SEC’s “extremely aggressive and scare tactics” as reasons for the move.

US lawmakers and industry leaders have criticized the SEC for its heavy-handed approach to crypto enforcement. On June 12, Representative Warren Davidson sought the dismissal of SEC Chairman Gary Gensler through a proposed bill aimed at restructuring the commission.

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