Binance Appoints New Compliance Officer as Regulatory Crackdown Intensifies – Binance has appointed Kristen Hecht as the new Deputy Chief Compliance and Global Money Laundering Reporting Officer. This appointment comes as the exchange faces potential fraud charges from U.S. regulators, leading to the departure of several top legal and compliance executives due to the strain of handling multiple investigations into the company’s practices.
However, Binance denies that these departures are related to the ongoing investigations. Kristen Hecht is no stranger to Binance, as she previously served as the Global Head of Corporate Compliance for the past eight months. Before joining Binance, she held the position of Chief Compliance Officer at Meta’s crypto wallet project, Novi Financial, for less than two years.
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In her earlier career, Hecht worked as a Senior Policy Advisor at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. In her new role, Kristen Hecht will focus on Binance’s compliance program and will also engage with regulators, intergovernmental organizations, and industry bodies.
A press release stated that she will closely collaborate with Noah Perlman, who will be taking over as Chief Compliance Officer. The appointment coincides with Binance’s position at the forefront of U.S. lawmakers’ efforts to regulate cryptocurrency actors.
In March, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a lawsuit against Binance and Zhao, accusing the company of knowingly providing unregistered cryptocurrency derivatives products in the U.S., which goes against federal regulations. In June, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also filed a lawsuit against the exchange, accusing it of violating federal securities laws.
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Recently, there have been reports that officials from the U.S. Department of Justice are contemplating fraud charges against Binance. However, to prevent potential harm to the entire cryptocurrency industry and the possibility of a bank run, they may consider alternatives such as fines, deferred prosecution, or non-prosecution, according to sources familiar with the matter.