Nearly 1,700 UK investors filed a group lawsuit against Binance, its founder Changpeng 'CZ' Zhao, and Abu Dhabi-based Nest Exchange in London's High Court on June 29, alleging the exchange sold unauthorized crypto derivatives to retail traders for years without regulatory approval.
The claim form, filed by KP Law on behalf of 1,692 claimants led by Tomas Sutas, alleges the defendants promoted and sold leveraged tokens, cryptocurrency futures, options, and margin trading products to UK consumers from around Sept. 13, 2019, in breach of the UK's Financial Services and Markets Act.
The filing argues that the sales violated the act's general prohibition on carrying out regulated activity without authorization, and that the promotion of the products separately breached the act's rules on unauthorized financial promotions.
Claimants are seeking recovery of money and property paid, plus compensation for losses and interest under the Senior Courts Act 1981.
The suit also names CZ and Binance Holdings as accessories, arguing they acted in common design with the parties that operated the platform. A fourth defendant, listed only as "Persons Unknown," covers other entities that ran the Binance trading platform.
