UK Treasury Committee to probe Binance’s role in FTX collapse

Lawmakers in the U.K. have asked Binance to submit internal discussions and documents relating to its attempted purchase of FTX and the sale of the bankrupt exchange token FTT, Bloomberg News reported on Nov. 15.

According to the report, the U.K. Parliament’s Treasury Committee questioned why Binance revealed it was selling $500 million worth of FTT tokens on Nov. 6, and whether the exchange knew it could trigger FTX’s collapse during a cryptoasset inquiry.

Binance vice president of government affairs in Europe Daniel Trinder appeared before the Committee as a witness and said that Binance had no intention to trigger a collapse and made those decisions to protects its users. He added that the exchange will submit the requested documents as evidence on Nov. 15.

However, Trinder said the exchange may choose to redact certain information from the requested documents due to ongoing investigations related to FTX in the U.S.

Treasury Committee Chair Harriett Baldwin said Binance would have to explain the exact reason behind withholding certain information. She added that the exchange would have to admit that it was a player in the “sequence of events” that led to FTX’s demise.

Trinder said Binance’s actions were attempts to protect its users.

Binance revealed intentions to “fully acquire” FTX on Nov. 8 but backed out of the deal on Nov. 9, citing mishandled customer funds and the regulatory scrutiny the exchange was facing.

Following these events, FTX, alongside 130 affiliated companies, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Nov. 11 and founder Sam Bankman-Fried resigned from his position as CEO.

Source: https://cryptoslate.com/uk-treasury-committee-to-probe-binances-role-in-ftx-collapse/