Binance seeks restraining order against SECs fishing operation

By: Michael Wilson

August 15, 2023 6:24 AM

The exchange maintains the SEC's discovery and deposition requests have nothing to do with the legal action it launched against Binance.

In response to what it calls a "fishing operation" by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), cryptocurrency exchange Binance has requested a court for a protective order.

Following SEC notices of deposition and discovery requests, Binance filed→ a move for a restraining order on August 14.

"BAM has worked in a professional manner, though the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) remains persistent in its notion that the Consent Order allows it the freedom to investigate all elements of BAM's asset custody procedures without any obvious limitation whatsoever," the group said. 

Binance stated that the SEC is requesting correspondence stretching back to November 2022 on "dozens of topics — several of which have little to do with customer's assets."

Furthermore, the exchange objected to the SEC's demand that its CEO, Changpeng "CZ" Zhao, and five other top executives be deposed.

It maintained that the SEC was overreaching by requiring depositions of BAM's top executives despite the fact that they lacked "unique firsthand knowledge" of the circumstances surrounding the protection, custody, and transfer of client assets and that workers with such knowledge had already been provided depositions.