Binance Appoints Its First Board of Directors

Binance Holdings Ltd., the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, has appointed a board of directors for the first time as part of its efforts to restructure the company after pleading guilty to US charges of anti-money laundering and sanctions violations last year.

Gabriel Abed, former ambassador of Barbados to the United Arab Emirates, has been named as the chairman of the board. The seven-member board also includes CEO Richard Teng and three other company executives - Heina Chen, Jinkai He, and Lilai Wang. The two other outside members are Arnaud Ventura, managing partner at investment firm Gojo & Co, and Xin Wang, CEO of Bayview Acquisition Corp. The appointments were effective as of March 7.

Chen, He, and Wang are some of the earliest employees at Binance and are known as founding members of the crypto exchange. Chen is currently a senior executive and co-founder of Binance, while Wang is responsible for Binance's technology development, and He has led several critical units at Binance, including fiat for on- and off-ramps.

Austin Campbell, an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School, said, "Binance having a board composed primarily of company insiders tells me they are still resistant to outside control and oversight, and the lack of depth on the board of independent members with deep regulated financial risk or compliance experience is not ideal." However, he added, "Even so, this is a step in the right direction versus having no board at all, so what will matter is if they are effective shepherds of the company going forward."

The appointment of the board is seen as one of the first significant changes at Binance under Teng's leadership, who became the CEO in November last year following the company's settlement with US authorities. Binance has not yet announced its global headquarters, and Abed, Ventura, and Wang did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Since its founding in China in 2017, Binance has claimed to operate without a headquarters. After settling with US authorities in November, Teng indicated that he would establish a more conventional corporate structure, including designating a headquarters and a board of directors.

In February, Binance agreed to pay $4.3 billion after a US judge approved a plea deal against the crypto exchange. Binance's founder, Changpeng Zhao, also pleaded guilty to anti-money laundering and sanctions charges and is expected to be sentenced later in April.