United States-based cryptocurrency exchange Binance.US announced that a former chief compliance and ethics officer from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York has joined its board of directors.
In an April 16 blog post, Binance.US said former NY Fed chief Martin Grant would be bringing his “regulatory, legal, and compliance” experience to the crypto exchange as one of its newest board members. Grant was the chief compliance and ethics officer at the NY Fed from 2005 to 2022, having joined the bank in 1990.
According to Binance.US Interim CEO Norman Reed, adding Grant would help the exchange “continue to navigate the current regulatory environment “ in the U.S. The former NY Fed chief is also the Global Head of Regulatory Affairs and Integrity at financial services firm JST Digital, adding that the crypto industry in the U.S. was “at an inflection point.”
The change to Binance.US’ board of directors came roughly two weeks after global exchange Binance — a separate entity — announced it would be forming a board for the first time. The seven-person board is chaired by Gabriel Abed, the ambassador of Barbados to the United Arab Emirates, where the exchange has some personnel and ties to regulatory authorities.
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Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao chaired the Binance.US board before he resigned in November 2023 as part of an agreement with U.S. authorities — a settlement that did not include the U.S. exchange. Zhao stepped down as Binance CEO and pleaded guilty to one felony charge, for which he is scheduled to be sentenced on April 30.
Binance, Binance.US and Zhao still face a civil lawsuit initially filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in June 2023 for allegedly offering unregistered securities. The case is one of many enforcement actions the regulator is pursuing against crypto firms with operations in the country, including Coinbase and Ripple.
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