SEC sues Binance and CEO

 

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has sued Binance and its co-founder CEO Changpeng Zhao, accusing the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange of commingling customer funds, misleading investors, and engaging in manipulative trading.  The SEC's wide-ranging lawsuit, filed in federal court on Monday, accuses Binance of blatantly disregarding federal securities laws. Following an investigation by U.S. regulators, the SEC has brought a total of 13 charges against Binance, Binance.US., and Zhao, also known as "CZ." In the lawsuit, the agency claims that Binance mixed customer funds and covertly transferred them to a company controlled by Zhao. The suit also accuses the exchange of misleading investors about the effectiveness of its surveillance for detecting and controlling manipulative trading on Binance.US. It claims Binance failed to adequately prevent U.S. investors from accessing its unregulated exchange and sold unregistered crypto asset securities, including its tokens (BNB and BUSD). In March, the U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission also sued Binance and Zhao, claiming that they operated an "illegal" exchange with a "sham" compliance program. The moves come after criminal charges were filed against Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX, a significant competitor to Binance in the crypto trading industry until it collapsed and filed for bankruptcy in November.