Richard Teng, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, stated that American regulatory agencies have acknowledged the efforts Binance has made to enhance its compliance. Teng assumed the role of CEO in November as part of a settlement with the U.S. government to resolve historical compliance issues associated with Binance.
"Binance has invested heavily in compliance. But don't take our word for it—see what US regulatory agencies said about the work we've done over the past two years to improve our compliance controls," Teng said.
In a blog post dated December 12 on its website, Binance claimed it "has taken full responsibility for its past conduct" and has been working diligently to improve its compliance controls to provide a safer platform for its users. The company highlighted that the scrutiny it underwent during the investigation leading up to the settlement revealed both past issues and improvements made to rectify those issues.
Binance also noted that U.S. government agencies involved in the settlement recognized these improvements. According to the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) consent order, Binance "remodeled its compliance program governance and organization structure, including by hiring new compliance leadership with professional compliance experience in the financial sector and law enforcement."
The FinCEN consent order addressed Binance's anti-money laundering (AML) and countering financing of terrorism (CFT) controls. It was stated that "Binance’s current compliance program would not permit users identified as associated with terrorist financing to remain on the platform or remove funds." Additionally, Binance's plea deal agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice highlighted that significant investments have been made by the company in enhancing its AML and CFT programs, "including by replacing ineffective compliance staff with experienced employees and significantly increasing compliance headcount."
According to the post, U.S. agencies also praised Binance's cooperation throughout the investigation and its "proactive" collaboration with global law enforcement agencies. The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) commended Binance's "substantial cooperation," which included "conducting an extensive, independent, internal investigation, responding promptly to OFAC’s requests for information, providing large volumes of data regarding the Apparent Violations, making multiple presentations to OFAC, submitting inculpatory internal communications, and executing a statute of limitations tolling agreement."
Prior to joining Binance in August 2021, Teng held various positions including CEO of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority at Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), Chief Regulatory Officer of the Singapore Exchange (SGX), and Director of Corporate Finance at the Monetary Authority of Singapore, as per Binance’s website.
