The Prosecutor General’s Office of New York accused Bitfinex of violating securities laws

The New York State Attorney General’s Office (NYAG) has again filed accusations against the Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange and Tether. This time, the agency saw signs of unregistered securities in UNUS SED LEO tokens. It is reported by CoinDesk .

“The recent“ initial exchange offer ”has signs of issuing securities that are subject to Martin law . There is reason to believe that the release of LEO tokens is relevant to the issues being investigated in the framework of the current case, ”stressed the NYAG.

In addition, representatives of the department claim that, despite the statements of Bitfinex that the exchange does not work with investors from New York, the platform still provided services to residents of this state.

Thus, documents were submitted to the State Supreme Court indicating that "the defendant was constantly in contact with New York due to circumstances under investigation."

The court also submitted a correspondence, dated October 2018, between the cryptocurrency bank Galaxy Digital and Bitfinex. In it, companies discussed the start of cooperation.

In addition, the prosecutor's office discovered that the cryptocurrency exchange has accounts in at least two New York banks – Signature Bank and Noble Bank.

“The defendants have repeatedly attracted New York firms to help them achieve their business goals, including to make statements about the operation of the Bitfinex trading platform and Tether in the markets; and only in 2019, the defendants opened a trading account in at least one New York firm working with digital currencies, ”noted NYAG.

416240547 Nyag Affirmation by BlockchainJournal on Scribd

Recall, in April, the Prosecutor General’s Office of New York accused Bitfinex of having suffered a loss of $ 850 million, it concealed this fact, using the funds of its affiliated issuer steyblecoin Tether to cover the damage.

Later, iFinex Inc., which is the operator of Bitfinex and the parent company of Tether Limited, stated that the court order, which the prosecutor's office had made, is based on incomplete and incorrect facts, as well as on the wrong legal standard.

At the end of May, Joel Cohen, a judge of the New York State Supreme Court, satisfied the demands of the Bitfinex and Tether Limited lawyers, allowing them to submit only those documents that the State Office of Public Prosecutor has the right to demand within its jurisdiction.

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