Two more managers at Binance US are reportedly quitting amid another round of layoffs at the troubled cryptocurrency exchange. The departures come while Binance’s U.S. trading platform for digital assets is still under heightened regulatory pressure that has damaged its business.
Binance US Legal and Risk Executives Depart as Crypto Trading Firm Cuts More Jobs
Risk and legal executives are leaving Binance US, the American subsidiary of the world’s largest crypto exchange, the Wall Street Journal revealed in report which follows this week’s news of the departure of the platform’s chief executive officer.
The entity’s Head of Legal Krishna Juvvadi and its Chief Risk Officer Sidney Majalya are quitting their posts, the daily wrote in an article on Thursday, quoting sources with knowledge of the changes in the trading platform’s management.
On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that Binance US CEO Brian Shroder has also vacated his position and will be replaced by an interim appointment. The executive exodus coincides with another round of job cuts that slashed a third of the company’s workforce.
The layoffs come amid major legal and business challenges for the leading digital asset exchange in the United States and elsewhere. In June, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission hit Binance, its founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) and its American division with a lawsuit for breaking securities rules.
The SEC accused them of diverting customer funds and misleading investors and regulators while operating an illegal trading platform in the United States. Juvvadi was one of the Binance US representatives responsible for communicating with the securities regulator.
In March, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) sued Binance and CZ for violations of trading and derivatives regulations. Media reports also unveiled that the crypto behemoth is under investigation by the Justice Department for suspected evasion of sanctions against Russia.
Krishna Juvvadi and Sidney Majalya join a group of executives that have left this year. Among them are the exchange’s Chief Strategy Officer Patrick Hillmann, Senior Vice President for Compliance Steven Christie, Binance’s General Counsel Hon Ng, Leon Foong, who was responsible for the Asia-Pacific region, and Product Lead Mayur Kamat.
Their departures were followed by resignations of Binance’s managers for Eastern Europe and Russia, Gleb Kostarev and Vladimir Smerkis, which were announced earlier in September. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has previously sought to downplay the significance of the executive exits and news reports this summer claimed that the exchange had laid off 1,000 employees.
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