Binance Hires Former IRS Official for Anti-Money Laundering Role

Binance, which is facing regulatory backlash around the world, has appointed former US Treasury Criminal Investigator, Greg Monahan as its new Global Money Laundering Reporting Officer (GMLRO).

Announced on Wednesday, Monahan is replacing Karen Leong in the position, who will now become Binance’s Director of Compliance.

“My efforts will be focused on expanding Binance's international Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Anti-money laundering (AML) is a term that describes laws, processes, and regulations that are intended to prevent illegally obtained funds from being disguised as income gained through legitimate means. The fundamental purpose of the AML laws is to help safeguard, detect, and report suspicious activity including the predicate offenses to money laundering and terrorist financing, such as securities fraud and market manipulation.Most exchanges have AML measures that include identity verification Anti-money laundering (AML) is a term that describes laws, processes, and regulations that are intended to prevent illegally obtained funds from being disguised as income gained through legitimate means. The fundamental purpose of the AML laws is to help safeguard, detect, and report suspicious activity including the predicate offenses to money laundering and terrorist financing, such as securities fraud and market manipulation.Most exchanges have AML measures that include identity verification Read this Term) and investigation programs, as well as strengthening the organization's relations with regulatory and law enforcement bodies worldwide,” Monahan said in a statement.

A Former Financial Crimes Buster

He is joining the cryptocurrency Exchange Exchange An exchange is known as a marketplace that supports the trading of derivatives, commodities, securities, and other financial instruments.Generally, an exchange is accessible through a digital platform or sometimes at a tangible address where investors organize to perform trading. Among the chief responsibilities of an exchange would be to uphold honest and fair-trading practices. These are instrumental in making sure that the distribution of supported security rates on that exchange are effectiv An exchange is known as a marketplace that supports the trading of derivatives, commodities, securities, and other financial instruments.Generally, an exchange is accessible through a digital platform or sometimes at a tangible address where investors organize to perform trading. Among the chief responsibilities of an exchange would be to uphold honest and fair-trading practices. These are instrumental in making sure that the distribution of supported security rates on that exchange are effectiv Read this Term from an accounting consultancy firm, Deloitte, where he had a short stint as a Senior Manager. But, Monahan’s most highlighted experience was his 30 years long US government service. Then, he spent most of this time as a US Treasury Criminal Investigator and was responsible for tax, money laundering and other financial related crime investigations.

Monahan’s appointment came at a crucial time when several global regulators have turned against the cryptocurrency exchange for compliance-related issues. Though not officially confirmed, the Indian Enforcement Directorate reportedly questioning Binance officials for the exchange’s usage in laundering Chinese betting app proceeds.

He is one of the many former government officials Binance has tapped in the last few months to revamp its compliance efforts.

“As a former US Federal Law Enforcement Investigator, Greg Monahan brings a wealth of AML and investigations experience to Binance. We're thrilled to welcome him to our team as GMLRO, and we look forward to his contributions,” Binance CEO, Changpeng Zhao said.

Meanwhile, Binance has closed its derivatives operations in Hong Kong and multiple European countries, and it has stopped offering stock tokens to comply with the local securities market laws.