Binance Issues Cease and Desist Notice to Deceptive Nigerian Entity

Binance Issues Cease and Desist Notice to Fraudulent Nigerian Entity

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has announced that Binance has officially issued a cease and desist notice to the fraudulent entity known as Binance Nigeria Limited.

On Sunday, June 18, Zhao took to Twitter to make the announcement. On June 9, the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released a circular stating the illegality of Binance Nigeria Limited in the country.

According to reports, a Binance spokesperson responded that the entity mentioned in the circular is not affiliated with the company. The spokesperson expressed the company’s intention to seek clarity from the Nigerian SEC and reiterated its commitment to cooperating with it on the next steps.

Although Binance claimed no affiliation with Binance Nigeria Limited, as mentioned in the SEC’s circular, the company is concurrently facing a lawsuit from the United States Securities Exchange Commission. The U.S. SEC has filed 13 charges against Binance entities and Zhao.

Some charges include:

• Operating as an unregistered exchange
• Operating as an unregistered broker-dealer
• Operating as an unregistered clearing agency
• Misrepresenting trading controls

The U.S. SEC stated that despite earning $11.6 billion from U.S. customers, Binance and Zhao failed to register as an exchange, broker-dealer, or clearing agency.

In a recent development on June 17, U.S. Judge Amy Berman Jackson approved an agreement between Binance.US, Binance, and the U.S. SEC. This agreement resulted in the dismissal of a previous temporary restraining order that aimed to freeze all Binance.US assets.

Binance, which is available in about 100 countries, registered its headquarters in George Town, Cayman Islands, in 2017. In 2019, it also registered a subsidiary in Mahe, Seychelles.