The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a civil enforcement action against Changpeng Zhao and Binance Holdings Limited, Binance Holdings (IE) Limited, and Binance (Services) Holdings Limited (together, Binance) with numerous violations of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and CFTC regulations. The complaint also charges Samuel Lim, Binance’s former chief compliance officer, with aiding and abetting Binance’s violations.
Kristin N. Johnson, commissioner at the CFTC, said that the regulator has been in conversations with Binance to address its concerns about the company’s conduct. She said that she hopes to find a “path forward” in the regulator’s legal battle with crypto exchange Binance, noting that no decision has been taken yet on whether to settle the case or take it to court.
“I want to be really careful not to prejudge what will actually happen in the litigation. And I want to say that typically, in the context of any litigation, we are always ready to have conversations and typically even ahead of the litigation,” Johnson told CNBC.
In a blog post, CZ said that upon an initial review, the CFTC complaint appears to contain an incomplete recitation of facts and that Binance would not agree with the characterization of many of the issues alleged in the complaint.
