The U.S. arm of the bitcoin exchange FTX has hired Marissa McDonald as chief compliance officer of FTX Trust Company, according to division representatives.
The exchange will register a limited-function trust company to provide services to users in the state of New York. The charter of FTX Trust Company awaits approval from NYDFS.
Brett Harrison, president of the exchange’s U.S. arm, noted McDonald’s experience, having spent 14 years at Fidelity Investments, one of the world’s largest asset managers.
Prior to joining FTX, she worked on regulatory and compliance matters in the Fidelity group’s digital assets division. Fidelity Digital Assets was launched in 2019.
McDonald began her career at Ernst & Young, one of the Big Four accounting firms.
“After a successful stint at Fidelity, I am eager to deepen my foray into the world of digital assets with one of the most regulated and trusted exchanges in the industry,” she said.
The BitLicense from NYDFS for crypto firms is regarded as one of the industry’s strictest rules.
In January, FTX co-founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried urged regulators to create a single global supervisory framework for the cryptocurrency market.