BitMEX hires new chief compliance officer amid US regulatory troubles

Malcolm Wright has been appointed chief compliance officer at 100x Group, the operator of BitMEX’s crypto-derivatives exchange. The appointment is described in the company’s blog there.

The role involves overseeing global regulatory standards compliance and user-verification programmes. BitMEX expects the new executive’s decades-long experience to bolster the trading platform’s compliance posture.

“Compliance requirements are non-negotiable for me. It is a precondition that exchanges are required to meet by regulators as well as institutional investors,” Wright said.

BitMEX announced the appointment after a lawsuit by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission and charges of violating the Bank Secrecy Act by the US Department of Justice.

Named as defendants are BitMEX co-founders Ben Delo and Samuel Reed, who on 8 October left their posts. The third defendant — the exchange’s head of business development Greg Duayer — has taken a leave of absence.

Earlier, Reed pledged to attend the trial and, if convicted, to serve his sentence. On 9 October, he was released on $5 million bail.

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