Richard Teng’s Regulatory Background Key to His Rapid Rise at binance
Prior to joining binance, Richard Teng held crucial roles in financial regulation and policy. Previously, he served as the Director of Corporate Finance at the Monetary Authority of Singapore and as the CEO of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority at the Abu Dhabi Global Market.
His extensive experience in the regulatory space has been instrumental in his ascent within binance. Teng initially took charge of binance’s operations in Singapore in August 2021. Despite the brief tenure in Singapore, his responsibilities expanded to include overseeing binance's operations in the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe. Subsequently, he was appointed as the Head for Regional Markets across all regions except for the US.
Throughout his journey at binance, Teng's regulatory acumen has been a driving force behind the company's strategies to tackle evolving regulatory challenges.
binance Sees 10% Increase in Law Enforcement Requests, Sees Compliance Spending Climbing
The decision to bolster binance's compliance team with 1,000 new recruits follows a plea agreement with US authorities in November 2023. The agreement involved admissions of several charges by binance and its former CEO, Changpeng Zhao, resulting in hefty fines exceeding $4.3 billion. These penalties were related to violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, failure to register as a money-transmitting business, and breaches of international economic powers laws.
As reported by Bloomberg, binance is aiming to ramp up its compliance team to 700 employees by the end of the year, up from the current count of approximately 500 members. Richard Teng highlighted a surge in inquiries from global law enforcement agencies, with requests witnessing a nearly 10% increase compared to the previous year.
The expenditure on compliance initiatives at binance has notably escalated from $158 million a couple of years back, with projections indicating a continued upward trajectory in spending. Teng has openly addressed the shortcomings of binance's early compliance efforts, underscoring the significant changes and improvements implemented under his leadership.
