Binance is facing a significant setback as two key officials from its anti-crime team have tendered their resignations. This departure comes at a time when the exchange is already under scrutiny for its compliance practices and its ability to prevent illicit activities on its platform.
The departing officials include Jennifer Hicks, a senior counter-terrorism official who joined Binance just two months ago to lead the firm’s inaugural counter-terrorism finance advisory. Hicks’s departure is particularly noteworthy given her extensive experience in the field, having previously served as a senior investigator for the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and as a lead investigator for the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Hicks’s departure follows the recent resignation of Suleiman M., another key figure in Binance’s financial crime investigation team. M. announced his resignation on LinkedIn, attributing it to “recent redundancy.”
The reported layoffs coincide with a broader pattern of senior officials leaving Binance. In recent months, the company has witnessed the departures of its former head of product, head of Asia-Pacific, and two high-ranking officials overseeing Binance’s operations in the UK, France, Eastern Europe, and CIS.
Binance is not the only fintech losing its staff strength. In other news, the Senior Vice President of International and Business Development at Coinbase revealed he would be leaving the company in the first quarter of next year.
Murugesan was part of an initiative at Coinbase to find “forward-looking regulators” to facilitate the company’s international expansion. In September, the company announced that it was prioritizing expansion into Europe, Canada, Brazil, Singapore and Australia.
