Richard Teng Eyed as CZ’s Heir

• Binance exchange is in search of a new CEO as regulatory scrutiny gets compounded.
• Richard Teng, a regulatory veteran has been tapped as the next potential CEO.

With so many lawsuits surrounding Binance and its present Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Chanpeng “CZ” Zhao, the global leading cryptocurrency exchange is considering the appointment of a new leader. 

As it stands, it looks like a former civil servant and financial regulation expert, Richard Teng may likely be Zhao’s successor. Sources have it that Binance is mulling the idea of modifying its leadership due to several regulatory concerns surrounding the exchange.

Many believe that Teng would do a better job at keeping up with regulatory standards. Before this time, the 52-year-old Singaporean financial expert has held several senior executive positions including working at Abu Dhabi’s international free-trade zone. He has worked for up to 20 years at government agencies dealing with regulatory matters. Only last month, he was appointed as Binance’s Head of all markets outside the US

Regulatory Concerns Drowning Binance

Last month, Binance was caught in the web of different challenges that saw it suspend withdrawals. 

The renowned exchange was investigated by the United States Department of Justice for allegedly breaking sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. In response, CZ claimed that the exchange had put in place stringent Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know-Your-Customer (KYC) measures to ensure that such criminal behaviours are not permitted on its platform.

Shortly after, the digital asset service provider exited the Canadian market owing to new regulations enforced by the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) in February. According to a tweet posted by Binance, “new guidance related to stablecoins and investor limits provided to crypto exchanges makes the Canada market no longer tenable for Binance at this time.” Therefore, from October 1st, 2023, Canadian customers will be put into liquidation-only mode.

Amidst all these, Binance’s Australian payment partners decided to sever ties with the corporation two weeks ago, thereby, preventing customers from making deposits. In effect, the exchange announced to its customers that it had suspended its Australian dollar (AUD) services. Bank transfer withdrawals were also affected by the decision. 

Direct Regulatory Accusations

Earlier in March, U.S. regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused Binance of violating federal securities laws by offering unregistered securities. 

This came up around the time when the exchange was attempting to acquire beleaguered crypto brokerage company Voyager Digital. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) became concerned about the activities of Binance and its executives. There is currently a $1 billion lawsuit against the exchange, CZ and three crypto influencers for promoting unregistered securities.

The U.S. CFTC filed a complaint against Binance, CZ, and Samuel Lim. Based on the complaint, they were displaying some illegal conduct and behaviours and also failed to comply with the law. Zhao was specifically called out for failing to divulge necessary information to regulators like the location of its executive offices. The regulator believed that it was an intentional act to avoid regulation.

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