Cryptocurrency exchange Binance and its CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao plan to file to dismiss a lawsuit filed in March by the US commodity regulator.
On July 24th filing Before July 27, several Binance entities, Zhao and former chief compliance officer Samuel Lim, said they plan to file two separate motions to dismiss the complaint before the Illinois District Court.
“Binance’s foreign entities and Zhao intend to file a joint motion to dismiss the complaint. Lim intends to file a separate motion to dismiss the complaint, joining parts of the motion filed by the foreign entities of Binance and Zhao,” the lawsuit reads.
Binance is also seeking permission to go beyond the 15-page limit for the brief that will be used to support its move and has asked for it to be up to 50 pages, citing the complexity of the lawsuit against it.
“Given the complexity of the CFTC complaint and the number of arguments Defendants can expect to present in support of their motions to dismiss, Defendants expect their legal briefs supporting both motions to exceed the fifteen-page limit.”
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) sued Binance and Zhao in March alleging that the cryptocurrency exchange failed to properly register with the regulator.
The CFTC claimed that although Binance has barred US residents from transacting on its platform, since at least 2019, it has knowingly conducted transactions in several cryptocurrencies for US residents and willfully violating US laws.
The regulator also called Binance’s compliance process “sham” and claimed that it willingly conducted its activities outside the US and blocked the location of its headquarters in order to evade US regulations.
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The SEC also filed a lawsuit against Binance and Zhao on June 5 alleging that it sold unregistered securities, allowed US clients to use its global platform and alleged that Zhao misused customer funds.
The SEC complaint alleged that Binance’s chief compliance officer in 2018 — believed to be Lim — said in a letter to another compliance officer that “we operate as an unlicensed securities exchange in the United States of America.”
Binance is reportedly under investigation by the US Department of Justice for allowing Russians to use its platform in violation of US sanctions.
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