Kraken's Payward Seeks $22M Judgment Against Ex-Auditor Mazars

Court filings also show that Mazars received subpoenas from a grand jury and from the SEC for its Kraken files. The SEC’s complaint appeared to quote from the audit workpapers, a fact Santori highlighted as evidence that the auditor’s exit was entangled with broader regulatory pressure.

Santori cast the case as part of a wider pattern. He pointed to Mazars Group’s decision to drop proof-of-reserves work across the sector after the collapse of FTX in late 2022, when the firm pulled attestations for Binance, Crypto.com, and KuCoin from its website. He also cited the January 2023 joint statement from the Federal Reserve, FDIC, and OCC warning banks about crypto risk, alongside the now-rescinded SAB 121 accounting guidance and the collapse of Silvergate and Signature Bank. Santori said he was personally debanked by Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic, both of which later failed. He called on Congress to pass the CLARITY Act and set permanent market-structure regulation, arguing the United States trails the European Union’s MiCA framework.

Forvis Mazars, the firm’s current name and the 10th-largest US accounting firm with about $2.2 billion in revenue, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Delaware Court of Chancery will now decide whether to convert the arbitration award into an enforceable judgment. Kraken would then be able to pursue collection. The strength of the award – a retired judge’s ruling after a full hearing, with a clear causal link to the TradeStation acquisition – makes a challenge difficult. Mazars’ justification for withdrawing, the SEC action, has been vacated. That weakens any argument that the firm acted reasonably.

For the broader crypto market, the case sets a precedent on auditor liability. An auditor that walks away from a clean engagement without cause can be on the hook for costs tied to licensing and regulatory setbacks. That reality may raise audit-risk premiums for exchanges, especially those still working to get their financial reporting up to the standard required by state regulators.