Almost half of the team monitoring compliance with regulations at the Palo Alto offshoot of the world's largest crypto exchange, Binance UAB, reportedly quit this year over concerns that it wasn't giving them the time needed to conduct money laundering checks.Reuters said the turmoil at Binance.US, whose legal name is BAM Trading Services Inc.
While Binance UAB founder and leader Changpeng Zhao calls Binance.US a"fully independent entity," Reuters said he controls it and directs its management from abroad. Reuters bases that conclusion on regulatory filings from 2020, company messages and interviews with former team members. It said that an adviser, in a message to Binance executives, described the U.S. exchange as a"de facto subsidiary.
Binance.US has had three leaders in the three years since it was launched. Reuters reported that two of them, Catherine Coley and Brian Brooks, left after clashing with Zhao over pressure to bring new customers in. Since current CEO Brian Shroder took over in October 2021, Reuters reports that almost half of the U.S. compliance team quit because the he applied what they considered to be improper pressure to register users without necessary money laundering checks.
A Binance.US spokeperson, in an emailed response to the Reuters story, told the Business Journal,"Binance.US was founded with the express purpose of operating as a licensed and regulated entity in the United States. In the last year, under current management, we have invested in talent, technology and financial resources to maintain the highest standards for compliance."that there is an ongoing probe into Binance UAB and whether it is complying with U.S. regulations.