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Binance’s American affiliate won court approval to take over thousands of customer accounts from bankrupt crypto platform Voyager Digital Ltd. despite warnings that the Binance.US exchange faces possible regulatory action, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Judge Michael Wiles of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York approved the companies’ deal, undeterred by the revelation last Friday that Securities and Exchange Commission staff have determined that Binance.US, the American affiliate of the world’s largest crypto exchange, is operating an unregistered securities exchange. The SEC staff’s view that Binance operates an unregistered exchange in the U.S. hasn’t been affirmed by the agency’s commissioners but indicates the SEC could take enforcement action. Judge Wiles on Tuesday said he couldn’t delay the deal between Voyager and Binance.US simply because the SEC is warning about possible future enforcement, especially since the agency didn’t present any evidence the companies could rebut. “The SEC didn’t say why they say Binance.US is operating as a securities broker. If we were to try to address the issue we’d have to guess,” Judge Wiles said in his ruling. The judge’s ruling clears the way for Voyager to transfer roughly $1 billion in cryptocurrency it holds to Binance.US, where customers would receive new accounts to access some of the assets that have been frozen since Voyager filed for chapter 11 last year. In court hearings that began last week, Judge Wiles considered Voyager’s plan to sell its customer accounts to Binance.US, wind up the bankruptcy case and distribute what remains of the business to its customers. U.S. state and federal regulators have voiced doubts about the viability of the proposed deal, citing risks from pending regulatory investigations of Binance.US.

Federal appeals court judges in Washington, D.C., grilled the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on its decision to reject a proposed Bitcoin exchange-traded fund when it had earlier approved a similar product based on Bitcoin futures, Bloomberg News reported. Grayscale Investments LLC wants to convert its $14 billion Bitcoin trust, the largest investment vehicle tied to the No. 1 cryptocurrency, into an ETF. But the SEC rejected the plan in June, saying crypto markets are too ripe for fraud and manipulation. Grayscale sued, asking the DC Circuit Court to overturn a decision the company called arbitrary and discriminatory because the SEC had already approved ETFs that track Bitcoin futures. Chief Circuit Judge Sri Srinivasan, one of three on the appellate panel, asked during a hearing Tuesday why it wouldn’t always be the case that manipulation of the spot Bitcoin market would show up in futures. “It is just going to follow like the night follows the day,” Srinivasan said while questioning an SEC lawyer. Some of the judges pushed the SEC to explain why Grayscale is wrong to argue the risks of fraud and manipulation in the spot Bitcoin and Bitcoin futures markets are the same because they both rely on the same underlying pricing.

Revlon Inc. is grappling with a growing number of allegations that some of its hair products cause cancer as the cosmetics company looks to exit chapter 11 protection, Bloomberg News reported. Thousands of consumers are alleging Revlon owes them money because they used the company’s hair relaxer products and later developed cancer. But a deadline to formally lodge such claims against the bankrupt company elapsed in October — just after the National Institutes of Health published a study showing a correlation between some chemical hair relaxers and uterine cancer. On Tuesday, Revlon’s bankruptcy judge extended the deadline by which customers with certain types of cancer can file claims against the company. They now have until April 11, which will also allow them to vote on the bankrupt company’s restructuring plan later this month. “What we’ve got here in my view is a mass tort in the making,” said Sander Esserman, an attorney who spoke on behalf of various cancer claimant groups during the Tuesday bankruptcy hearing. “It’s a dynamic situation, and there will no doubt be many cases in the future as they continue to market and the women develop various forms of cancers that are contestable.” Robert Britton, an attorney representing Revlon, said the company disputes any link between cancer and its hair relaxer products. He added that the exponential growth of claims in a matter of weeks suggests that more vetting of the claimants might be needed.

A plan for the owner of a senior living community in Plano, Texas, to emerge from bankruptcy faces a creditor vote this month, a confirmation hearing in April, and opposition from the trustee for nearly $66.8 million of defaulted revenue bonds, The Bond Buyer reported. BSPV-Plano, LLC, a Texas limited liability company, filed the chapter 11 case in the U.S. Eastern District of Texas Bankruptcy Court in March 2022 after Bridgemoor at Plano, its 318-unit rental project, was beset with problems. Bond trustee The Huntington National Bank said that Bankruptcy Judge Brenda Rhoades approved the company's disclosure statement Feb. 24 despite its opposition and that it expects to file an objection to the plan's confirmation on or before March 29, according to a notice to bondholders posted Monday on the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's EMMA website. A court hearing on the plan's confirmation is scheduled for April 13 and 14.

Meridian Restaurants Unlimited, a roughly 120-unit Burger King franchisee, declared bankruptcy earlier in March, QSR Magazine reported. The restaurants are across Utah, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Arizona. Meridian also franchises with Black Bear Diner, but that part of the business is not under bankruptcy proceedings. Meridian attributed its cash flow issues to increased wages (33 percent in the past few years), cost of labor, shipping, and food inflation (22 percent in the past two years), and decreased availability of staffing. For several years — mostly because of COVID — the company has "suffered significantly" from declining foot traffic. This has resulted in lower revenues, without proportionate decreases in rent, debt service, and other liabilities, according to court documents. Meridian has lower revenues than the system average because the original founder acquired underperforming restaurants. "These lower volumes result in smaller profit margins, and thus greater sensitivity to the recent dramatic rise in labor, commodity, and maintenance costs," court documents state. "As a result, although certain of the restaurants are profitable, others operate at a loss, and have for many years, resulting in the Debtors' inability to meet financial obligations timely."