100x Group, the parent of BitMEX operator, announced on Monday the hiring of Malcolm Wright as its chief compliance officer. This appointment came after the crypto derivatives Exchange was facing charges in the United States for multiple violations.
Wright is a seasoned compliance and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) ) expert with decades of experience in the field.
Before joining 100x, he was the chief compliance officer at two cryptocurrency exchanges, Diginex and EQUOS, according to his LinkedIn profile.
His most notable stint was at Revolut for five months as the challenger bank’s compliance chief.
He started his career at British asset manager, Schroders and later moved to Thomson Reuters, taking compliance roles.
“For me, compliance is non-negotiable, and a prerequisite for exchanges to be embraced by regulators and institutional investors alike,” Wright said in a statement.
BitMEX Needs to Take Compliance Seriously
The crypto derivatives exchanges appointed him when the US prosecutors indicted it for multiple compliance violations, including illegally offering services to US-based traders.
In a separate lawsuit, the three co-founders of the exchange: Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, Samuel Reed, and its first employee, Gregory Dwyer, were criminally charged for their involvement in the lapses.
Following the backlash, Hayes and Reed stepped down as the CEO and CTO respectively and other in-house executives temporarily replaced them. Vivien Khoo, the exchange’s chief operating officer, became the interim CEO, and Wright will report directly to her.
“My vision is for 100x Group, through the BitMEX platform, to play a lead role in shaping how this industry collaborates with regulators to ensure everyone can safely avail of digital markets. I look forward to bringing my leadership and expertise to bear as the industry rapidly evolves alongside regulations,” Wright added.
