Crypto Giant Binance’s US Arm Hires New Compliance Chief

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The US arm of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, has named a new chief compliance officer.

Binance.US said it hired Tammy Weinrib, who most recently served as vice president of the financial crime compliance department at French bank Société Générale SA.

In her role running compliance at Binance.US, Ms. Weinrib will lead and develop the company’s know-your-customer onboarding and anti-money-laundering programs and engage with regulators and law enforcement across the US, the company said.

The new hire comes as the Securities and Exchange Commission is examining the relationship between Binance.US and two trading firms with ties to Binance’s founder, The Wall Street Journal reported this week.

Ms. Weinrib brings to her new role more than 15 years of experience building and expanding onboarding and AML programs at both traditional financial services businesses and crypto firms, Binance.US said. Before Societe Generale, she served as deputy chief compliance officer at crypto exchange Gemini Trust Co. between 2015 and 2017 and had held various compliance roles at other financial institutions and consulting firms.

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Ms. Weinrib’s appointment is the latest addition to Binance.US’s senior leadership team and compliance department. She reports to Binance.US Chief Risk Officer Sidney Majalya, who was hired in December. The company also hired a new general counsel, Norman Reed, in December.

Binance.US said it has more than doubled the number of its employees and made additional investments to its compliance programs. It has ramped up hiring efforts, adding within the last 60 days consultants from companies such as Guidehouse Inc. and AML RightSource LLC that focus on financial services compliance.

“At Binance.US, we recognize the enormous responsibility that comes with handling our customers’ assets, and with that responsibility comes a need to ensure our company and industry are held to the highest standards of regulatory compliance,” Brian Shroder, Binance.US’s chief executive, said in a statement Thursday.

“I look forward to taking a proactive approach to engaging with regulators to maintain and enhance our compliance programs and ultimately do right by our customers,” Ms. Weinrib said in the statement.

Earlier this week, the WSJ reported that one area of ​​focus for the SEC is how Binance.US disclosed to customers its links to two trading firms that act as market makers that trade cryptocurrencies on the Binance.US exchange. The SEC requested information about the two entities from Binance.US, which is already the subject of an existing enforcement probe, WSJ reported.

A spokesman for Binance.US on Thursday declined to comment on the Journal report and pointed to a previous statement that said the company was “committed to upholding the highest standards of compliance.”

Write to Mengqi Sun at [email protected]

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