Cryptocurrency exchange Binance, facing regulatory probes in the US, has named a new deputy chief compliance officer. The same person also holds a global money laundering reporting role.

Binance, the global blockchain ecosystem facing regulatory pressure in the US, last week said that it has appointed its former global compliance head, Kristen Hecht, as new deputy chief compliance officer and global money laundering reporting officer.

Hecht brings 17 years of experience, including nearly a decade supporting the US government's efforts to combat terrorism and illicit financial activity as a senior policy advisor in the Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes in the US Department of the Treasury, Binance said in a statement. Before Binance, Kristen served as the CCO at Meta's first crypto digital asset wallet project, Novi Financial. 

As deputy CCO, Hecht will work with Binance's CCO, Noah Perlman.

The organization has been in the regulatory crosshairs. In March, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) sued Binance and CEO Changpeng Zhao, alleging that the company knowingly offered unregistered crypto derivatives products in the US against federal law. Last December, it was reported that the US Justice Department is probing it over possible money-laundering and sanctions violations. 

Binance's origins lie in China. The exchange pulled out of mainland China in 2017 during a regulatory crackdown.

Last week, the Wall Street Journal said that Binance users traded cryptocurrency-related assets worth $90 billion in a single month in China, where such trading has been illegal since 2021. The WSJ cited internal figures, and current and former employees of the exchange. A report by Bloomberg on July 6 said that Patrick Hillmann, Binance’s chief strategy officer who joined in 2021, tweeted that he was leaving “on good terms.” Steven Christie, senior vice president for compliance, and Hon Ng, general counsel, also reportedly left.