Main topics of the post:
Binance is committed to responsible growth and robust regulatory compliance as we understand these are essential components of protecting our users and the ecosystem at large.
Throughout 2024, we will expand our compliance and risk teams, focusing on both quantity and quality of hires, to meet the demands of a maturing crypto industry.
The addition of new leaders with extensive experience in financial crime prevention, compliance management, special investigations, and more has strengthened Binance’s ability to navigate complex regulatory environments and support compliance initiatives.
As global cryptocurrency adoption continues to grow, Binance is at the forefront of responsible industry growth, holding itself to the highest compliance standards to protect our 240 million users around the world. This effort is supported by substantial investments and strategic hires. This year, we continued to attract top compliance talent to strengthen our industry-leading team to meet the demands and challenges of the rapidly maturing crypto ecosystem.
We are on track to grow our compliance workforce to 645 by the end of the year, which would represent 34% growth between November 2023 and the end of 2024. We currently employ over 1,000 people, both staff and contractors, in the compliance function. In addition, our Risk team has nearly reached its 2024 target, with 137 of the planned 138 employees already on board. And while we have quantitative targets, our primary focus remains on quality.
New generation of leaders
We are committed to hiring top professionals with a track record of excellence in the cryptocurrency, traditional finance, FinTech, regulatory agencies, law enforcement and other relevant areas. This year, we have made several key hires that bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to Binance.
One of our key hires this year was Todd McElduff, who joined us as Director of Corporate Compliance. The Corporate Compliance team is responsible for working with law enforcement to respond to requests and conduct special investigations, educating and training crime fighters, and working in key areas such as transaction monitoring, market surveillance, and sanctions compliance.
Todd has 20 years of compliance experience, focusing on financial crime in both traditional finance and Fintech. His previous experience includes Senior Director, Global Financial Crime Oversight Leader at PayPal and Executive Director, Financial Crime Prevention Leader for Wealth Management and Banking at Morgan Stanley, where he was responsible for executing highly regulated financial crime programs. He has also held leadership positions in Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Internal Investigations at Morgan Stanley.
Lana Sinelnikova recently joined Binance as Director of Business Compliance and Enterprise Risk Assessment (EWRA). Lana’s team provides end-to-end compliance control and advice to multiple business units throughout their product lifecycle and develops compliance risk programs at both local and global levels.
Lana has over 13 years’ experience in financial services regulatory compliance and over 18 years in financial crime prevention. Her previous roles include Risk and Compliance Lead and then UK Compliance Director at Kraken, Trading Products Compliance Lead, Compliance Lead and Anti-Money Laundering Officer (MLRO) at Revolut Trading. Lana’s comprehensive experience positions her perfectly to lead our business governance and compliance efforts.
Investigations and Audit Task Forces
Binance operates across multiple jurisdictions with varying regulatory landscapes, making strong regional expertise an invaluable component of the team’s unique mix of skills and experience. Some of our new employees bring unique experiences from their countries, which will enhance our ability to navigate local regulations, ensure compliance, and effectively address region-specific challenges.
On the investigations side, Céline Inial, with over 18 years of experience in cybercrime investigations, has joined Binance as a Special Investigations Specialist for France. Previously, she served as a Cryptocurrency Investigations Specialist and was responsible for training for the French Gendarmerie Nationale.
Caner Akyürek, who joined Binance as a Special Investigations Specialist for Turkey, has 18 years of operational experience in leadership roles with the Turkish National Police and Europol.
Pauline Chan is the Regulatory Audit and Testing Compliance Specialist in Binance’s Global Audit Issue Management team. Her role focuses on audit and regulatory issues, and managing and validating the closure of these processes. Pauline is a Chartered Accountant (FCA) in England and Wales. She has 19 years of experience in the financial services and banking industry with a focus on financial crime risk management and issue validation. Her previous roles include Senior Manager, Wealth and Private Banking Compliance and Senior Manager, Quality Assurance and Sustainability in the Remediation Management Office of the CEO at HSBC Hong Kong, where she provided governance support, and Assistant Vice President, Global Financial Crime Compliance Testing at J.P. Morgan, where she led financial crime reviews for the APAC region.
Final considerations
Discussing the evolution of Binance’s compliance efforts, Noah Perlman, our Chief Compliance Officer, noted: “We recently achieved our 20th global regulatory milestone, which is a testament to our efforts and commitment to working with regulators and industry partners to ensure the sustainable growth of the cryptocurrency ecosystem. These efforts are supported by our robust compliance program that is comparable to financial institutions and our leading digital asset crime prevention team that keeps the ecosystem safe and ensures that Binance continues to be a trusted and secure platform for all of our users.”
As we continue to strengthen our compliance capabilities, strategic hires will help us navigate the evolving regulatory landscape and support the responsible growth of the cryptocurrency industry.