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Recently, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) witnessed a judge rule in its favour regarding a dispute with a crypto exchange QuadrigaCX.
Reportedly, Vancouver-based crypto exchange QuadrigaCX faced difficulties while accessing its funds amounting $16.3 million. This has happened as the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) froze five accounts of the exchange’s payment processor, Costodian Inc., and its owner, Jose Reyes. Clarifying its stand, the bank explained that it apparently froze the accounts because of an inability to identify the funds’ owners.
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Eventually, the bank asked the court to hold the disputed funds and decide the actual recipient. While QuadrigaCX alleged that the bank froze the funds mistakenly and claimed to be the undisputed owner of the larger part of the funds.
Regarding this case, Judge Glenn Hainey of the Ontario Superior Court admits that the owner of the funds is not clearly established, as he ruled in favour of the bank. As given in the ruling, CIBC now has to give the funds to the Accountant of the Superior Court, so that the court can decide the owner of the money.
Judge Hainey stated that he is “not in a position on this record to make any determination as to CIBC’s possible liability for doing so.” He added, “Accordingly, it would be inappropriate for me to extinguish any liability that CIBC may have for freezing the accounts in the absence of an evidentiary record that establishes that CIBC has no liability.”
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Additionally, Chief Executive at QuadrigaCX, Gerald Cotten responded, “more importantly, the court has made no ruling yet on whether CIBC acted appropriately in freezing the funds in the first place. Regarding this point, we are considering our next steps.”
