Key Takeaways
- Judge stated that the court’s role is not to “wordsmith” public statements made by either party.
- Binance Motion had caused the SEC to issue misleading statements that could potentially taint the jury pool and cause confusion in the marketplace.
A federal judge has rejected Binance’s request to restrict the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from using specific language related to Binance.US’ management of customer funds in press releases. Judge Amy Berman Jackson, presiding over the SEC’s case against Binance.US, dismissed the claim, stating that the court’s role is not to “wordsmith” public statements made by either party.
Judge Jackson’s ruling on June 26 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia indicated that court intervention was unnecessary regarding the motion from Binance and Binance. U.S. The motion, filed on June 21, accused the SEC of issuing misleading statements that could potentially taint the jury pool and cause confusion in the marketplace.
Binance’s complaint stemmed from a June 17 press release by the SEC, where Enforcement Director Gurbir Grewal claimed that Binance and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao (C.Z.), could freely “commingle customer assets or divert customer assets as they please.” Following this, the exchange, in a filing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, claimed that the SEC had made “misleading” statements in a press release on June 17. Binance’s legal teams argued that the SEC’s statements were misleading and denied the allegations.
Lawyers representing BAM Trading, operating as Binance.US, also raised concerns about the SEC’s “misleading extrajudicial statements” in their complaint. They expressed worries that the SEC’s press release could create confusion in the marketplace, harming BAM Trading’s customers instead of protecting them.
Furthermore, they contended that the SEC’s descriptions of the evidence against the defendants could prejudice the jury pool. Binance’s legal team maintained that there was no evidence of dissipation, commingling, or misuse of customer assets. Judge Jackson granted Binance until September 21 to respond to the SEC’s allegations. The SEC, in turn, must provide its reply to Binance’s pleading by November 7.
SEC filed a lawsuit against Binance and its founder, Changpeng Zhao, on June 5, alleging that they worked to attract U.S. customers to its unregulated international exchange, commingled investor funds with their own, and violated securities laws.
