Binance has gone on a hiring spree in its compliance department. It will increase the team size by 34% by the end of the year, the exchange announced on its Binance Square platform on Nov. 22. The compliance team will have 645 full-time members and over 1,000 members counting contractors.

Compliance for business success

The move is part of the cryptocurrency exchange’s “intensified commitment to regulatory adherence” and its “ongoing transformation” since it made peace with United States regulators in 2023. In that time, it has increased spending on compliance by 36%.

Binance chief compliance officer Noah Perlman said in  the announcement:

“Our sector is maturing rapidly, and compliance has become central to user protection, business success, and sustainable growth. Binance’s expanded compliance efforts reflect our commitment to setting industry standards.”

Binance said it was taking on personnel from traditional finance and government agencies and highlighted three high-level hires. Todd McElduff will serve as enterprise compliance director, and Céline Inial and Caner Akyürek will be special investigations specialists for France and Turkey, respectively.

In August, Binance said it would increase its compliance team by at least 200.

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Binance’s ongoing transformation

Binance CEO Richard Teng, who moved up to that position after the resignation of founder Changpeng Zhao, was a regulator before joining Binance in 2021. He headed the Financial Services Regulatory Authority at Abu Dhabi Global Market and was chief regulatory officer of the Singapore Exchange before that.

Binance beefs up compliance team by 34% to 645 full-timers image 0

Source: Bloomberg

Zhao stepped down at Binance as part of a settlement with US authorities that included $4.3 billion in penalties and ongoing intensive monitoring for allowing lax Anti-Money Laundering measures at the cryptocurrency exchange. Zhang was later sentenced to four months in prison on a single felony charge in a plea deal.

Related: Binance settles with US government: Timeline of enforcement actions

Binance reported that it increased spending on compliance by 35%, from $158 million to $213 million, in 2022 as well.

In recent months, Binance has made much of its law enforcement training efforts and cooperation with government authorities.

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