Crypto exchange Binance and its CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao plan to file a motion to dismiss a March lawsuit by the U.S. commodities regulator.
On the 24th of July filing to the district court in Illinois, several Binance entities, Zhao and former chief compliance officer Samuel Lim said they plan to file two separate motions to dismiss the complaint by July 27.
“The Foreign Binance Entities and Zhao intend to file a joint Motion to Dismiss the Complaint. Lim intends to file a separate Motion to Dismiss the Complaint and join portions of the motion filed by the Foreign Binance Entities and Zhao,” the filing said.
Binance is also seeking permission to exceed the 15-page limit on the brief that would be used to support its motion, requesting that it be up to 50 pages, citing the complexity of the lawsuit against it.
“Given the complexity of the CFTC’s complaint and the number of arguments Defendants expect to make in support of their motions to dismiss, Defendants anticipate that their memoranda in support of these two motions will exceed the fifteen-page limits.”
Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) sued Binance and Zhao claimed in March that the crypto exchange had not properly registered with the regulator.
The CFTC alleged that despite blocking US residents from transacting on its platform, Binance had knowingly conducted transactions in several cryptocurrencies for US-based people since at least 2019, in willful violation of US law.
The regulator also called Binance’s compliance process a “fraud” and alleged that it voluntarily conducted its activities outside the US and concealed the location of its headquarters in order to avoid US regulations.
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Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also sued Binance and Zhao on June 5 alleged that they sold unregistered securities, allowed US customers to use their global platform and alleged that Zhao misappropriated customer funds.
The SEC complaint alleged that Binance’s head of compliance in 2018 — presumably Lim — said in a memo to another compliance officer that “we’re operating as a fictitious unlicensed stock exchange in the US bro”
Binance is also reportedly under investigation The US Department of Justice for allowing the Russians to use its platform in violation of US sanctions.
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