Bloomberg: Silvergate collapse spurred demand for crypto-compliance specialists

European financial institutions serving cryptocurrency companies have begun hiring compliance experts after the collapses of banks Silvergate and Signature. The Bloomberg link to the article is here: Bloomberg.

Among them are Greengage Global Holding, BCB Group, Blockbank and Fiat Republic. According to the report, some of them raised salaries for compliance specialists by around 20%.

“Finding good compliance experts isn’t cheap, but now compliance also comes with a premium,” said Natasha Powell, the senior executive at BCB.

She added that the company plans to double its compliance staff within five months. BCB is preparing to launch the instant payments service BLINC in the United States, so the need for regulatory specialists has risen dramatically.

Current average pay for compliance staff in the United Kingdom ranges from £55,000 to £75,000 per year. In large firms, heads of regulatory compliance earn around £200,000.

“This resembles the period after 2008 in the financial industry — the emphasis is on compliance,” said Mark Vetslavek, head of MWek Solutions.

Compliance specialists are also being hired by foreign firms planning to open EU branches.

Representatives of Lithuania’s Blockbank noted that in recent months the number of requests for services from blockchain companies increased several-fold.

In May, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation named digital assets as one of the causes of the Signature collapse. According to the regulator, the “root of the problems” was poor management at the financial institution.