Three senators on the Senate Banking Committee have asked Bitcoin exchange Binance and Binance.US for more information on their operations. Three bipartisan senators draw comparisons with blurred lines between assets owned by FTX and Alameda Research.
Senators request information from Bitcoin exchange
cryptocoin.comAs we reported, three US senators are seeking more information from Binance and its US subsidiary after asking questions about the parallels that may exist around the meddling between the crashing FTX exchange and its sister trading company Alameda Research.
You s. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Chris van Hollen, D-Md. and Roger Marshall, R-Kan. He wrote a letter to Binance on Wednesday requesting more information about Binance and Binance.US operations. “The claim that Binance.US is fully independent is eerily similar to Sam Bankman-Fried’s claims about the distinction between FTX USA and FTX,” the letter said.
Also in the letter, including a Reuters report that Bitcoin exchange Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) authorized the withdrawal of $400 million from a Binance.US account at Silvergate Bank to be transferred to a mutual fund he manages. It is stated that there are questions about whether the US is actually an independent entity.
Senators, all members of the Senate Banking Committee, which oversees the U.S. financial industry and financial regulators, “Exact copies of all Binance and Binance subsidiary balance sheets from 2017 to date, estimated number and percentage of U.S.-based Binance users in each fiscal quarter from 2017 to present.” He also requested detailed data in the form of
Binance given deadline for response
Further information on Binance and Binance.US compliance, including full copies of all written policies and/or procedures regarding the relationship between Binance and Binance.US, all communications with investors about that relationship, and anti-money laundering regulatory compliance, is requested. In this context, they want an answer to the following question concerning CZ:
Has Mr. Zhao ever instructed or recommended that Binance and/or Binance.US employees remove or limit the company’s know-your-customer checks or otherwise weaken its anti-money laundering compliance program?
The three senators also point to reports that ‘suggest Mr. Zhao’s 2018 plan to set up a company’. In this context, they seek information about the ‘Tai Chi establishment’ and this scheme, which will distract regulators by showing false interest in ‘fitness’. The senators have given Bitcoin exchange Binance until March 16 to respond.
“We rely on the strength of our operations, including our BSA/AML practices, broader compliance programs, and policy to hold 1:1 reserves and never trade or lend client funds,” a Binance.US spokesperson explained.
