Former US Treasury official joins Binance to lead AML efforts

Former United States Treasury Criminal Investigator Greg Monahan joined major cryptocurrency exchange Binance to oversee the company’s international Anti-Money Laundering (AML) efforts, the exchange announced on Aug. 18.

Before replacing Karen Leong as the global money laundering reporting officer at Binance, Monahan worked for the U.S. Treasury for almost 20 years as a member of the Internal Revenue Service’s criminal investigation unit. He was mainly responsible for tax, money laundering and other related financial crime investigations. He also held a brief position at Deloitte as a senior manager, according to his professional profile.

Reminding previous efforts of the exchange to support high-profile investigations, Monahan said that his efforts would be focused on Binance’s AML and investigation programs, “as well as strengthening the organization’s relations with regulatory and law enforcement bodies worldwide.”

Binance said that its international compliance team and advisory board grew by 500% since 2020. Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of Binance, noted that the team is expanding its capabilities “to make Binance and the wider industry a safe place for all participants.”

Former GMLRO Karen Leong will remain at Binance as a director to promote the compliance efforts within the organization, the announcement reads.

Related: Binance to shut down crypto derivatives trading in Europe

Binance is ramping up its compliance and AML efforts in a bid to make peace with regulators, who are accusing the exchange of illegal operations within worldwide. CZ recently shared the company’s vision to be licensed everywhere. “From now on, we’re going to be a financial institution,” he summarized.

After limiting leverage trading to 20x on its futures platform, Binance recently rolled out a tax reporting tool to give its users a way to overview their tax liabilities.

The exchange is also known to make prominent hires to boost up its efforts in different areas. Last year, Binance hired former HSBC exec Teana Baker-Taylor to lead its expansion in the United Kingdom and European market. Since then, HSBC UK has reportedly suspended credit card payments to Binance.