Binance used ‘tortured’ interpretation of law in bid to toss suit, says SEC
Binance’s arguments used in its motion to dismiss a lawsuit from the United States securities regulator relies on an incorrect legal analysis and have no basis in law, the regulator has argued.
In a Nov. 7 court filing the SEC rebuffed Binance’s earlier bid to toss the regulator’s suit saying no court has adopted Binance’s “tortured interpretation of the law.”
The SEC sued Binance in June alleging it, Binance.US and its founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao sold unregistered securities and failed to register as an exchange in the United States.
Binance argued the SEC failed to introduce crypto guidelines, misinterpreted securities laws and applied them to crypto and called the suit an overstep of its authority.
In its latest rebuttal, the SEC claimed Binance “never complied” with federal securities laws which was “a deliberate choice.”
“Binance’s Chief Compliance Officer crudely but succinctly summed up this case when he admitted that Binance was ‘operating as a fking unlicensed securities exchange in the USA bro.’ He was right.”
It added Binance’s arguments that compared crypto to “supermarket items like oranges […] are absurd” and claimed the crypto exchange’s crypto sales are investment contracts under the Howey test.
Related: SEC Inspector General says prohibition on crypto ownership hinders agency hiring
The regulator reiterated its claims the BNB (BNB) initial coin offering violated securities laws and Binance USD (BUSD) along with the yield-bearing staking, Vault and Earn programs are investment contracts.
It also rebuffed Binance’s argument that the suit violated the major questions doctrine — a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling saying Congress doesn’t delegate authority to agencies, which other crypto firms have cited in their aim to push back on the SEC’s claimed authority.
The SEC claimed granting Binance’s dismissal request would “dismantle decades of foundational precedent upon which the nation’s securities laws operate” and in its place would be a “rigid framework” that upends the “broad, flexible regime” of the current laws.
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Politics
Donald Trump committed to NATO and is right to push Europe to increase funding, UK defence secretary John Healey says
The defence secretary has insisted Donald Trump is committed to NATO and is right to push other European nations to put more funding into the security alliance.
John Healey dismissed suggestions the US president-elect will pull out of NATO, the military alliance consisting of 30 European countries and the US and Canada, after previous reports Mr Trump has discussed doing so.
Mr Healey told Sky News: “I don’t expect the US to turn away from NATO.
“They recognise the importance of the alliance, they recognise the importance of avoiding further conflict in Europe.
“But, I do say, and I’ve argued for some time, that the European nations in NATO need to do more of the heavy lifting.”
He added that Mr Trump “rightly pushed European nations to do more to fund NATO better”.
The defence secretary said the US commitment to NATO remained through the previous Trump administration and he has no reason to think that support will discontinue during his second term.
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Defence Secretary John Healey said Donald Trump is committed to NATO. File pic: PA
Mr Trump has repeatedly criticised NATO and complained about the US contributing too much of its budget to the alliance while accusing European countries of spending too little on defence.
During the election campaign, he said the US would only help defend NATO members from a future attack by Russia if they met their spending obligations.
Members pledged to spend at least 2% of GDP on defence by 2024, with 23 of the 32 countries expected to do so by the end of the year.
Poland, which shares a border with Russia, is the biggest spender at 4.1% of GDP, Estonia is second with 3.4% and the US is third with 3.4%.
The UK comes ninth on the list, reaching 2.3% of GDP under the previous Conservative government.
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Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy met in September. Pic: Reuters
Mr Healey said his government has committed to spending 2.5% of GDP on defence but did not give a timeline for that goal to be reached.
He said Labour was starting to make good on their promise by increasing defence spending by £3 billion next year.
“That’s a sign of a government that recognises the first duty of any government is to defend the country and keep our citizens safe,” he added.
Mr Trump spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin after the American’s win, and told him not to escalate the war in Ukraine, according to The Washington Post and Reuters.
Several sources familiar with the call told them the president-elect reminded Mr Putin of the US’s sizeable military presence in Europe and discussed the goal of peace on the continent.
“We have more clarity now in terms of the investment landscape after the election,” said the ARK Invest CEO.
Legal and policy experts from the crypto arm of a16z are confident that “the future of crypto in the US is bright.”
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