Richard Teng will lead all of Binance’s operations in regional markets outside the U.S. amid heightened regulatory scrutiny on the crypto exchange.

Binance has appointed Richard Teng, former regional head of Asia, Europe and the Middle East, to the head of all its regional markets. Teng’s new position comes a little under two years since he joined the crypto exchange as CEO of Binance Singapore.

Grateful for the confidence, support and guidance from @cz_binance, @heyibinance, senior leaders and team at #Binance https://t.co/dAuO1MNzvT

— Richard Teng (@_RichardTeng) May 29, 2023

Before joining Binance, Teng held senior positions at the country’s central bank and national stock exchange. Teng served as the Director of Corporate Finance at the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Chief Regulatory Officer at Singapore Exchange (SGX). 

“Over the past 2 years, Binance has retooled its executive team with globally recognized compliance & regulatory leaders like Richard Teng, now Binance’s Head of Regional Markets,” tweeted Binance.

“This is so Binance can evolve with regulators’ expectations of the industry in the years to come.” 

The news comes as U.S. regulators have been turning up the heat on Binance, with the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) alleging that the firm evaded derivatives and trading laws in a lawsuit filed earlier this year.

The same complaint also takes aim at Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao for his alleged role in directing employees to onboard U.S.-based users to the exchange through “creative means” like Virtual Private Networks (VPN).

Regulators’ negative perception of Zhao is also why Binance’s senior management is looking at ways to reduce his ownership stake in the firm, according to people familiar with the matter.

Zhao has been a part of these discussions and had been looking to offload his shares in the firm since last summer.