Binance has responded to a letter sent by United States Senators in early March requesting information regarding the exchange’s operations in the country, including its balance sheet. According to a report published on March 18, Binance’s response did not include the financial data requested; however, according to an anonymous source, the exchange had nonetheless sent the required information to U.S. regulators.
In the 14-page document, Binance Chief Strategy Officer Patrick Hillman acknowledged previous mistakes and highlighted that the exchange has implemented robust Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering policies over the past years. Despite this, Hillman failed to address Senator Markey’s concerns about Binance’s transparency. In his letter, Hillman noted: “Binance leverages both internal tools and tools from established third-party vendors to scan user transactions and profiles in real time. Between August 2021 and November 2022, Binance’s transaction monitoring systems flagged over 54,000 suspicious transactions, leading to their suspension.”
On March 2, three U.S. Senators—led by Elizabeth Warren—sent a letter to Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao and Binance.US CEO Brian Shroder, raising concerns about their activities and requesting the companies’ balance sheets. The letter cited evidence suggesting that Binance and its American arm had attempted to evade U.S. regulators, evade sanctions, and facilitate the laundering of at least $10 billion. In addition, the Senators noted that “what little information about Binance’s finances is available to the public suggests that the exchange is a hotbed of illegal financial activity.” Binance has previously maintained that the two companies are completely separate entities with independent management and operations.
Sen. Sherrod Brown requested various documents from Binance and its subsidiaries, including all balance sheets since 2017, policy documents related to Anti-Money Laundering and similar regulations, and information about the relationship between Binance and its U.S. arm, Binance. U.S. This follows an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in February, which alleged connections between Binance.US and CEO Changpeng Zhao – and an apparent transfer of around $400 million from a Binance.US account to a trading firm under his control.
