Global crypto exchange Binance has hired a veteran special agent from the IRS to head up suspicious activity reporting. This is in line with the crypto exchange’s aim to strengthen its regulatory compliance front.
Amjad Qaqish is a former criminal investigation special agent at the U.S Internal Revenue Service (IRS). According to reports, the former IRS agent will now lead as the Binance director of global suspicious activity reporting.
Qaqish worked on fraud, tax evasion, money laundering, and terrorism financing cases during his 30 years career. Moreover, these also include cases involving crypto.
Binance states that his role will involve monitoring suspicious activity, preventing “bad actors misusing the crypto markets.”
The hire is the latest of attempts as the crypto exchange tightens up on regulatory compliance. All of this while tackling fraud and other criminal activity happening in its exchange. The exchange encountered a slew of reprimands from financial watchdogs earlier this year, forcing it to become more proactive regarding compliance.
Also, Binance had hired Mark McGinness, the former head of international relations at the Dubai Financial Services Authority. He’ll take up the role of the crypto exchange’s first chief regulatory liaison officer.
Binance is also looking up for a replacement for its charismatic leader Changpeng Zhao. However, while he stated that the crypto exchange has several potential replacements, he’ll not step down right away.
He also made a point of clarification that he would be “honoured to run Binance as a regulated financial institution.” However, as of now, his primary focus for the exchange is “pivoting from a tech startup to a financial institution.”
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