The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) yesterday asked a court to grant a temporary restraining order to freeze Binance.US assets.
The court filing has asked for approval to freeze assets tied to BAM Management US Holdings and BAM Trading Services, the Binance.US holding and operating firms.
On Monday, the SEC sued Binance.US, Binance Global and CEO Changpeng Zhao, alleging compliance and control mishandling. The SEC also claimed that CZ-linked companies were somehow able to access funds belonging to Binance.US customers.
According to the filing: “The SEC respectfully submits that this relief is necessary on an expedited basis to ensure the safety of customer assets and prevent the dissipation of available assets for any judgment, given the Defendants’ years of violative conduct, disregard of the laws of the United States, evasion of regulatory oversight, and open questions about various financial transfers and the custody and control of Customer Assets – including by Defendants who claim they are not subject to the Court’s jurisdiction – as described in the Complaint, Memorandum of Law, and supporting materials.”
“For all the reasons set forth in the supporting Memorandum of Law, the Complaint, and the other documents referenced above, the SEC respectfully requests that the Court grant the SEC’s Motion and issue an order providing all of the relief requested herein. For the Court’s convenience, the SEC has also contemporaneously filed a proposed order.”
If a judge allows the order, the crypto exchange would have five days to ensure that only Binance.US has access to customer funds, and within a month, all customer assets would be moved to new wallets that only Binance.US could access.
Binance’s CZ has since responded and said: “Clarification: this could only affects Binance.US, IF granted by the court. It does NOT affect Binance.com. Funds are #SAFU”
