Last June, the US regulator SEC sued leading crypto exchanges Binance and Coinbase as it continues to increase its pressure on the cryptocurrency industry.
Apart from Binance, Binance US was also a party to the lawsuit, while a new move came from Binance US.
Binance filed for a protective court order yesterday, arguing against the SEC that its “demands are too broad and unduly burdensome.”
At this point, BAM Trading, the company behind Binance US, filed a petition with the court to obtain a protection order regarding the SEC's requests for testimony and discovery.
Claiming that the SEC's requests for testimony and discovery are outside the scope of the lawsuit filed against Binance, Binance US made the following statements in its petition:
“The SEC has rejected BAM Trading's offers or limited its claims.
The SEC is abusing its powers.
Because Binance approached a court order in good faith in June and did what was asked. However, the SEC's demand for discovery, which involves searching every single document in Binance's possession regarding client assets, is too broad and unreasonable.
It's also an indication that the SEC has abused its powers of discovery.”
In its petition, Binance US also objected to the SEC's request to have six of its employees present for testimony, including the exchange's CEO, Changpeng Zhao.
At this point, Binance US stated that senior executives did not have direct knowledge of the security, custody and transfer of customer assets and requested that four exchange employees, except CZ, be heard for their statement.
He urged the four people he had cited as witnesses in the exchange request not to be questioned on matters beyond the SEC's investigative powers, and to reject the SEC's discovery requests regarding matters other than client assets.