A federal judge denied Binance.US’ motion seeking the court to compel the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to refrain from making misleading statements to the public.
In a June 26 ruling in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Judge Amy Jackson stated that it was neither necessary nor appropriate for the court to get involved in wordsmithing the parties’ press releases.
“Nor is it clear that the [SEC] agency’s public relations efforts to date will materially affect proceedings in this case,” she added.
The motion filed by Binance.US’ lawyers last week pointed to statements made by the SEC in a June 17 press release, where the regulator claims to have secured an order to protect the exchange’s user assets, which were supposedly susceptible to commingling and being diverted offshore.
The SEC made these claims despite acknowledging in a court hearing earlier that they had no evidence to prove the exchange had engaged in moving funds outside the U.S., the lawyers said.
According to Binance.US, the picture painted by the SEC had already served to scare off banking partners and customers, and could even potentially taint the jury pool.
Meanwhile, the global exchange could be looking to expand operations in the middle east as it faces increased regulatory scrutiny in the U.S. According to statements made by Binance Dubai’s general manager Alex Chehade to Cointelegraph, clear crypto regulations in the United Arab Emirates make it a favourable destination to set up operations and build for the future.
“You don’t want to set up where the goalposts move. For big businesses, you need predictability, you need to plan and you need to budget,” said Chehade.
