Binance Names Europol Veteran to Join Audit and Investigations Team

Binance has hired Europol investigator Nils Andersen-Röed as its director of audit and investigations, the cryptocurrency exchange announced in a blog post Thursday.

• Andersen-Röed, who will be part of the larger investigations team, will conduct “internal and external investigations” to identify individuals who are trying to use the Binance platform for illegal purposes, the company said. He will look to protect Binance users’ holdings and assist law enforcement agencies in their investigations.
• Andersen-Röed spent almost three years on Europol’s Dark Web Team, a multi-agency initiative to reduce dark web crime.
• “My goal is to make the cryptocurrency industry (and Binance in particular) a safer place,” Andersen-Röed said in the blog post, calling “International collaboration between industry and law enforcement agencies essential.” “Criminals do not care about borders,” he said.
• The appointment is part of the exchange’s efforts to bolster its regulatory compliance and security amid intensifying scrutiny by regulators. On Friday, Bloomberg reported that Binance is facing insider trading and market manipulation investigations in the U.S., adding to other probes the company is facing worldwide.
• In August, Binance named former U.S. Treasury enforcement investigator Greg Monahan as its global money laundering reporting officer.