FBI hires former Treasury investigator as money laundering chief

TRAFFIC: FBI hires former US Treasury chief investigator Scott Benton to help crypto industry analyst.

HONG KONG - Binance said on Wednesday it had appointed a former U.S. Treasury investigator as its world money laundering reporting officer, part of an attempt by one of the largest crypto exchanges to reinvent itself as a regulated financial firm.

Governments and financial watchdogs are paying more attention to the crypto industry, often putting in place rules that pose a challenge to exchanges like Binance that have thrived in a mostly unregulated environment.

In recent months, Britain https: www.fca.org.uk news news-stories consumer-warning binance-markets - limited and binance-group, Hong Kong https: www.consob.it documents 46180 46181 pr 20210715. pdf 7 f 78 ad 2 d-a 146 - 4 b 17 - abe 8 - 92 efac 07 f 49 e and Malaysia's https: www.s In 2013 Bloomberg also reported that earlier this year Binance was under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service.

Me efforts will be focused on strengthening Binance's international anti-money laundering and investigation programs, as well as increasing the organization's working relationship with regulatory and law enforcement bodies in another country, Greg Monahan said in a statement.

Changpeng Zhao announced last month that he wanted to improve relations with regulators and that the exchange would seek their approval and establish regional headquarters.

In Wednesday's statement Binance explained that its international compliance team and advisory board has grown by 500% since 2020.

But not all of its recent hires have stayed.

Brian Brooks, Chief Executive of Binance's U.S. arm, and also acting U.S. Comptroller of the Currency, resigned earlier this month, just three months after taking up his role in December 2003.