Binance has
criticised the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for reportedly
making “incredibly overbroad” and “unreasonable”
demands for information over the past 45 days. The regulator’s discovery
requests include demands that the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and the
Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of BAM Trading, the crypto exchange’s
US affiliate, alongside at least four other senior
executives, be
made available for depositions or pre-trial testimony.
According
to Binance, which filed for a protective
order against
the SEC yesterday (Monday), the consent order given to the SEC by the district
court in Columbia in mid-June, only provides for “limited expedited discovery”
related to the affiliate’s possession, custody and control of customer
assets.
To fulfil
this order, the crypto exchange said it gave the
regulator the option of interviewing or deposing Sara Sisenwein, BAM’s Senior Director of Treasury
Operations, and/or Erik Kellogg, BAM’s Chief Information Security Officer. It noted
that both executives, who have “extensive firsthand knowledge” about US customers’ assets, submitted detailed declarations related to the assets to
the securities agency.
However,
instead of taking advantage of the exchange’s proposal, the SEC is reportedly
demanding that Binance provide at least six senior executives of BAM Trading
for the pre-trial testimony. Responding, Binanceclaimed that the CEO and CFO
of the crypto exchange’s local unit in the US do not have “unique firsthand
knowledge” about customer assets.
Furthermore, the exchange disclosed that the SEC is demanding that BAM produce ‘all communications’
concerning dozens of subjects dating as far back as November 2022. The
exchange said many of the topics “have nothing to do with customer assets.”
“BAM has
worked in good faith, but the SEC has been steadfast in its belief that the
consent order gives it carte blanche to investigate every aspect of BAM’s
asset custody practices without any discernible limitation whatsoever,” Binance
wrote in the court
filing.
“At the bottom,
the SEC is conducting a fishing expedition instead of seeking the narrow and
‘limited’ discovery authorized by the consent order to ensure customer assets
are presently secure and available,” the…
