(New throughout, adds accusations, details about defendant, New
York attorney general comment, earlier settlement with
cryptocurrency company Nexo, byline)
By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK, Feb 22 (Reuters) - CoinEx was sued on
Wednesday by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who
accused the cryptocurrency exchange of transacting business
illegally because it did not register with the state.
In papers filed with a New York state court in Manhattan,
James accused CoinEx of having "engaged in repeated and
persistent fraudulent practices."
She said CoinEx's failure to register as a commodity
broker-dealer, securities broker or securities dealer before
buying and selling tokens violated the Martin Act, a powerful
state law used to fight financial fraud.
James also said CoinEx held itself out without state
permission as a global cryptocurrency "exchange," and failed
last month to comply with her subpoena for testimony about its
digital asset trading activities.
"The days of crypto companies like CoinEx acting like
the rules do not apply to them are over," James said in a
statement.
CoinEx did not immediately respond to requests for
comment.
The Hong Kong-based company was founded in 2017 and is
also known as Vino Global Ltd, according to court papers.
James' civil lawsuit seeks restitution, and a ban on
access to CoinEx's mobile app, website and services from New
York.
In January, New York and nine other U.S. states
secured up to $24 million
from the cryptocurrency company Nexo Inc and an affiliate
to resolve civil claims they transacted without proper
registration and lied about their registration status.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Chris
Reese and David Gregorio)
Messaging: jon.stempel.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
