Cryptocurrency exchange makes appointments after $4bn settlement with US authorities
The creation of the board by the company came a year after Binance was sued in the US by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which alleged it was operating an “illegal” exchange in the US and had a “sham” compliance programme.
Binance settled that case in a $4bn (€3.6bn) deal last year that also saw its CEO sentenced to jail.
Binance is the world’s largest cryptocurrency trading platform and was founded by chief executive Changpeng Zhao.
Two Irish units of the crypto firm – Binance Holdings (IE) Limited and Binance (Services) Holdings Limited – were a core part of the legal action taken by the US watchdog.
‘Binance’s reliance on a maze of corporate entities to operate the Binance platform is deliberate’
Multiple changes to the directors of Ireland-based Binance firms, including the two companies targeted in the US action, have just been filed with the Companies Registration Office in Dublin.
They follow the appointment of the officers to the main Binance board in April.
They include Arnaud Ventura from France, who’s the managing partner at investment firm Gojo & Co.
The board will be led by Gabriel Abed from Barbados. He is the island’s former ambassador to the United Arab Emirates.
The others are Jinkai He and Lilai Wang of China. Xin Wang of Canada has also been appointed, as has Heina Chen, who has Cypriot nationality. Jinkai He, Lilai Wang and Heina Chen are among Binance’s earliest employees and founders.
Binance had failed to report more than 100,000 suspicious transactions
All of the individuals have been named as directors of Ireland-based Binance Services Holdings (IE), Binance Holdings (IE) and Binance (AP) Holdings.
Karl Long has resigned as a director of the three firms, according to the latest filings, but according to records remains a director of other Binance firms registered in Ireland.
Binance appointed Mr Long – a former State Street executive – to head up its Irish arm in 2022.
The CFTC alleged in its complaint last year that Binance and Changpeng Zhao allegedly chose to knowingly disregard applicable provisions of the US Commodity and Exchange Act (CEA) while engaging in a calculated strategy of regulatory arbitrage to their commercial benefit.
“Binance’s reliance on a maze of corporate entities to operate the Binance platform is deliberate,” the watchdog claimed in its lawsuit. “It is designed to obscure the ownership, control and location of the Binance platform.”
Authorities had claimed that Binance had failed to report more than 100,000 suspicious transactions with organisations the US has deemed terrorist groups, including Hamas, al Qaeda and the Islamic State terror group.
This week Changpeng Zhao started a four-month jail sentence after pleading guilty in April to enabling money laundering at Binance.
The 47-year-old Zhao, who is said to be worth in excess of $30bn, also stepped down as CEO at the company as part of the settlement.
“Admittedly, it was not easy to let go emotionally,” he said in a statement at the time.
“But I know it is the right thing to do. I made mistakes, and I must take responsibility. This is best for our community, for Binance, and for myself.”
