The Financial Markets Authority (FMA), New Zealand's regulatory watchdog, announced on Monday that Daniel Trinder was appointed as the Executive Director of Strategy and Design, joining the enterprise leadership team.

Trinder Moves from Binance to FMA NZ

Trinder brings more than 20 years of professional experience, which he has built up at HM Treasury and the International Monetary Fund, among others, as well as at major investment banks, including Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered.

Trinder was responsible for government relations and managed policy and regulatory relations in his work. Since May 2022, he has been associated with Binance, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, where he served as Vice President of Government Affairs and Policy.

Now, he will use his years of experience at the FMA to build on the regulator's strategic objectives, including research and insights, external relations, economic-based analytics and communication.

"Daniel is an exceptional appointment for the FMA, bringing world-class talent and experience to our enterprise leadership team. Daniel has extensive global experience of financial services, international regulators, and stakeholder management – across both commercial and government sectors," Samantha Barrass, the Chief Executive of FMA, said.

Barrass added that Trinder is looking forward to moving to Aotearoa in New Zealand and contributing to its vibrant economy, which supports society as a whole.

FMA Reports Increasing Number of Investment Scams

Trinder's many years of experience will enable the regulator to better combat investment crime, which has been clearly increasing in recent years. In January, the FMA said it recorded an increase in the number of investment scams discovered during its recent fiscal year that ended in June 2022. Across all categories, the regulator highlighted 111 cases during the period, which represents a 17% increase from 95 cases in 2021.

"Since the start of COVID-19, we have seen a spike in investment scam complaints, particularly related to social media contact scams, romance-investment hybrid scams, and imposter websites," the FMA said in the report.

According to the FMA, the breakdown of scam cases includes 105 suspected fraudulent schemes, 48 unregistered businesses, and one case of impersonating the FMA as a fake regulator. In contrast, in 2021, there were 89 suspected fraudulent schemes, 24 unregistered businesses, and two cases of impersonating the FMA as a fake regulator.

One of the warnings about impersonation came at the end of October 2022. The fraudster was cold-calling consumers to solicit personal information and potentially scam investors. In a statement issued by the FMA, it was revealed that an individual had attempted to obtain the personal data of members of the public they were targeting.

Additionally, in December of last year, the Kiwi regulator issued warnings regarding two crypto scams: Bay Exchange and Krypto Security. The financial markets watchdog clarified that Bay Exchange is not authorized to provide financial services to New Zealand residents, while Krypto Security impersonated FMA officials to exploit consumers.