Binance CEO Richard Teng expressed strong dissatisfaction with the actions of the Nigerian authorities, condemning their treatment of Binance executives, especially the detention of Tigran Gambaryan.

Gambaryan, who is the head of Binance’s financial crime compliance department, was accused of crimes that Binance claimed were “baseless.” In addition, Teng also stressed that the Nigerian government has set a “dangerous precedent” in the global business environment by detaining executives of global companies in the process of discussing issues.

This series of events has attracted widespread attention in the cryptocurrency community and the international business community as it raises issues concerning the operational freedom of multinational corporations and the rights of individuals.

Teng believes that it is urgent to speak on behalf of the business community and highlight the consequences and impact of the controversial incident between cryptocurrency trading platforms and Nigerian regulators.

Binance’s Views and Positions

Tensions between the cryptocurrency exchange and Nigerian authorities have risen since the arrest of Gambaryan and Binance Africa head Nadeem Anjarwalla. On Tuesday, Richard Teng shared his concerns about the country’s crackdown on the platform and its executives.

In a blog post, Binance CEO discussed the timeline of Binance’s dispute with Nigeria from the perspective of the exchange. Teng elaborated on the timeline of the dispute between Binance and Nigeria from the company’s perspective and provided relevant facts in order to prevent the global community from having an unfair understanding of the incident.

According to the detailed timeline, the dispute began in 2022, when the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued new regulations requiring cryptocurrency exchanges operating in the country to obtain an SEC license and comply with specific requirements.

Binance said they have reached out several times to seek specific operational guidance. However, Nigeria’s regulators allegedly did not respond to Binance’s inquiries. Teng further pointed out that so far, no virtual asset service provider (VASP) has been formally licensed under the new regulations.

In early January 2024, Binance employees finally met with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and agreed to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The MoU will set out the proposed terms and conditions for the sharing of anti-money laundering (AML) related information between the two parties.

Representatives of the exchange attended several other meetings, including one with members of the Financial Crimes Commission (HCFC). Teng said that after the meeting, Binance employees were approached by unidentified individuals who proposed to pay a settlement to resolve the allegations.

However, Binance CEO claimed that despite the team’s repeated requests to understand the specific allegations, they were never informed of the details.

Furthermore, Binance’s local legal counsel received a demand within 48 hours for a large cryptocurrency settlement that would allegedly resolve all related issues.

However, Binance representatives left the country and rejected the payment request. The exchange considered the payment to be an illegal settlement offer and made it clear through its local lawyers that it would only participate in settlement negotiations under certain conditions.

As of the time of writing, Nigeria has denied the bribery allegations made by Binance.

Will Nigeria’s draconian measures set a bad precedent?

In February, the exchange’s local adviser proposed to reschedule a meeting with the director of the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA). The meeting was scheduled for February 26 and the security of the exchange’s representatives was ensured.

However, during this meeting, Gambary and Anjarwalla were picked up by Nigerian authorities, where they were accused of being responsible for the state of the naira and the economy in general, and also faced charges of financing terrorism and money laundering.

In the blog post, Binance CEO outlined Gambary’s efforts to combat financial crime throughout his career. Teng specifically noted that the currently detained executive helped global law enforcement agencies freeze and seize more than $2 billion worth of assets through his financial crime compliance team in just two years, in 2022 and 2023.

As Teng clarified, “Despite Gambary’s recognition of the risks and escalating tensions, he traveled to Nigeria on behalf of Binance. However, he did not go as a ‘policy maker’ or ‘negotiator.’ His actual role was as an ‘expert in the field of financial crime and a capacity builder in policy discussions.’”

The article states that Gambary’s situation took a turn for the worse after Anjarwalla escaped from Nigerian detention in late March. The CEO claimed that during a bail hearing on April 25, prosecutors from the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) pointed out that since “the first defendant, Binance, was operated virtually through the Internet, the only action we can take is against this defendant, Tigran Gambaryan.” This suggests that due to Binance being a virtually operated entity, Nigerian authorities may find it difficult to take direct action against the company, and therefore focus their attention on the individual defendant, Gambaryan.

According to Teng, the Nigerian government is sending a clear message: an innocent employee “must” be detained and placed in a “dangerous prison” in order to gain control of Binance.

Ultimately, Binance CEO believes that the use of the pretext of inviting mid-level employees only to detain them "sets a dangerous new precedent for all companies around the world."

This statement seems to express that Binance CEO has serious concerns about the behavior of the Nigerian authorities, setting a bad precedent for the relationship between global companies and countries. If this behavior is imitated by other countries, it may have a profound impact on international business activities and the operations of multinational companies, especially in countries with opaque or unstable legal and regulatory environments. It may also increase companies' concerns about the legal and political risks they may face when doing business in these countries. #币安和解提案 #尼日利亚