For three years, Zhao wo n’t be allowed to interact with Binance in any way. According to Reuters, Zhao will enter a guilty plea to breaking the Bank Secrecy Act later on Tuesday as part of the plea deal.
Binance, Zhao, and others were charged with failing to implement a successful anti-money laundering strategy. They willfully broke economic sanctions, according to the Justice Department, “in a deliberate and calculated effort to profit from the US market without implementing controls required by US law.” According to court documents, Binance allowed nearly$ 900 million in financial transactions between 2018 and 2022 in violation of sanctions against Iran due to a lack of anti-money laundering measures.
Richard Teng, the company’s former global head of regional markets, will take over as CEO, Zhao confirmed in a statement. Zhao wrote on X,” Today, I resigned as CEO of Binance.” It was admittedly difficult to let go emotionally. But I am confident that what I’m doing is right. I have to accept responsibility for my mistakes. For Binance, my community, and myself, this is best.
Zhao now intends to take a break before possibly investing more. But” I do n’t think I’ll ever be the CEO of a startup again.” I’m happy to be a one-time ( lucky ) entrepreneur.
Criminal charges for violating sanctions laws, conspiring, and operating an unlicensed money transmitter business have been dropped as a result of the settlement. Samuel Lim, a former compliance chief, is reportedly going to be charged as part of the agreement.
The company and organizations like the Treasury Department and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ( CFTC ) have reached a significant settlement. Early this year, the CFTC accused Binance, Zhao, and Lim of breaking both its regulations and the Commodity Exchange Act.
” Binance ignored its legal obligations in the name of financial gain.” According to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, its platform allowed money to flow to terrorists, cybercriminals, and child abusers. The virtual currency industry has reached a turning point with today’s historic penalties and monitoring to ensure compliance with US law and regulations. Any organization, regardless of where it is, must abide by the laws protecting us all from terrorists, foreign enemies, and crime in order to benefit from the US financial system.
Binance will continue to operate, albeit with more stringent regulations. By strengthening its compliance program, it will need to make sure it complies with anti-money laundering regulations. Additionally, the business must choose a neutral compliance monitor.
Binance and Zhao were sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission in June on charges of mishandling funds, among other things, which allowed US traders to get around restrictions and break securities laws. In addition, the SEC asserted that Binance combined billions of dollars in customer funds with its own funds ( in a similar claim to those made against rival exchange FTX ). This settlement did not resolve the SEC charges.