Binance US Hires High Level Lawyers to Face Imminent Federal Charges

2023-06-13 08:05:52

In summary

• Binance US cryptocurrency company has hired a high-level legal team to take on the US SEC.
• The SEC accuses Binance and its owner of violating securities laws and requests to freeze Binance US assets.
• The SEC continues its crackdown on the cryptocurrency industry, having taken action against other companies like Coinbase and Kraken.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency company has hired a high-level legal team to fight the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including hiring a former SEC official.

According to a document filed today, Binance US, which was aim from the SEC last week with 13 civil charges, has hired George Canellos, who served as co-director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement.

In its lawsuit last week, the SEC claimed that mega-cryptocurrency exchange Binance, its boss Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao, and Binance US violated securities laws and “enriched themselves with billions of US dollars while putting securities at risk.” investors’ assets.

Binance US is a separate company for US citizens that uses the Binance logo but operates independently. The SEC alleged last week that “Zhao and Binance secretly controlled the operations of the Binance US platform behind the scenes.”

Canellos is currently the global head of the litigation and arbitration group at Milban in New York City. He previously worked for the SEC for four and a half years and oversaw major cases, including Raj Rajaratnam, one of the largest intra-trade cases in US history.

John Reed Stark, former head of the SEC’s Office of Internet Enforcement, described Canellos on Twitter writing: “Think Liam Neeson [El actor de Búsqueda Implacable que acaba con todos los secuestradores de su hija en la película] when she meets lawyer Perry Mason”.

The other attorneys in the case include former US Attorney Adam Fee and bankruptcy expert Andrew M. Leblanc.

Binance/DOJ Newsflash:

Binance and CZ just added a uniquely qualified criminal defense all-star lawyer to their legal team: George Canellos, former Chief of the Major Crimes Unit in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and former head of the SEC’s New… pic.twitter.com/lQlkZ6oxYc

— John Reed Stark (@JohnReedStark) June 12, 2023

Binance is facing serious charges: The SEC has alleged that the company and its owner moved clients’ fiat and cryptocurrency money “as seemed to the defendants.”

So serious, in fact, that the SEC last week asked a judge to freeze the assets of Binance US.

The 13 charges against Binance also include operating unregistered exchanges, brokers, and clearinghouses; misrepresent trading and supervisory controls on the Binance.US platform; and the unregistered offer and sale of securities.

The move by Wall Street’s top regulator was the latest in its crackdown on the crypto industry. Since the collapse of giant digital asset exchange FTX last year, the SEC has gone after several US cryptocurrency companies, including Coinbase and Kraken.

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