Three key executives from crypto-asset exchange Binance have left the company, revealed the magazine Fortune Thursday, July 6. All were on the front line in the dispute between the company and the regulator of the American stock market, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which has brought a vast lawsuit against Binance, accusing it of not having respected the American law on securities. securities exchanges.
Patrick Hillmann, the group’s chief strategy officer since 2021, has confirmed he has left the company ” on good terms “, he wrote on Twitter. Steven Christie, vice president in charge of compliance, and Hon Ng, chief legal officer of the group, also left. The latter will be replaced by Eleanor Hughes, currently legal manager for Asia, Europe and the Middle East, according to information from the Bloomberg agency.
Surveys in many countries
Binance is facing a series of investigations and proceedings from stock exchange regulators in several countries, starting with the United States. In early June, the powerful US SEC accused the platform and its founder, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, of lying to investors and regulators and illegally operating services for US consumers. Binance disputes these accusations and claims to have always cooperated with the authorities of the country.
In France, the company is also under investigation: it is suspected of having offered services outside the legal framework until 2022 and of having breached anti-money laundering obligations. The world had revealed in mid-June that a search had taken place a few weeks earlier at the French headquarters of the company. On Tuesday, company premises were also raided in Australia, as part of an investigation by the local regulator.
In the past two months, Binance has also announced that it is withdrawing from several markets in which the company has failed, or feared to fail, to obtain a license. In particular, it announced that it would cease all operations in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.