Binance is in serious trouble with governments around the world. In addition to the fact that De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) forced the crypto exchange to leave the Netherlands, several government authorities are investigating Binance and its sister company Binance.US, including the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). However, Binance.US is reportedly not exactly cooperating.
The SEC is not done with the fishing expedition regarding Binance.US
The SEC filed a motion Thursday in its lawsuit against Binance.US, accusing the exchange of failing to cooperate with an ongoing investigation. The policymaker says Binance.US “only handed over about 220 documents.” Many of these documents are also reportedly incomprehensible screenshots and documents without dates or signatures.
Previously, Binance.US had convinced the SEC that only local employees had access to the company’s assets and therefore customer assets. However, there are rumors that “Binance International” may have used customer funds for its own purposes, perhaps in a similar way to FTX.
The international “version” of Binance would be completely separate from Binance.US, but there have been rumors that the international company led by Changpeng Zhao (CZ) could easily access Binance.US’ assets. Now that Binance.US has only sent a few documents, the SEC doubts this. Binance.US uses the custodySoftware Ceffu, which Binance International also uses.
Earlier this week, Binance.US called the SEC’s search a “pointless fishing expedition.” Apparently the SEC is not satisfied with this and is continuing the expedition.
More executives leave Binance.US
It was also recently announced that Binance.US CEO Brian Shroder will reportedly be stepping down from his position along with more than 100 other employees. This means that around a third of all employees in the company will disappear. Since then, the interim CEO has been Norman Reed, who previously headed the legal department.
But that’s not the end of it either. According to the Wall Street Journal, new general counsel Krishna Juvvadi and chief risk officer Sidney Majalya are also leaving the company. Binance has not yet confirmed it or made a statement.