Binance Begins Hiring For EU Policy Officer Amid Mounting Regulatory Woes

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance is looking for a policy officer for the European Union amid regulatory hurdles in multiple countries across the bloc. The crypto giant has been dealing with regulatory issues in the bloc, including in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

The policy officer Binance wants should be an expert located in France who will "write new policies, standards, guidelines and procedures for the firm," and one who will "analyze existing procedures to identify gaps, inconsistencies and take appropriate action" to resolve the issues, as per a job opening posted this week on tech connections platform Powderkeg.

The job post added that the employee will "support the timely development, production, guidance and frameworks relating to EU Compliance policy." The EU policy officer can work full-time on-site or remotely and will be under Binance's Compliance unit.

Binance's search for a policy officer for its EU business comes as the crypto company faces multiple regulatory issues across the bloc.

Most recently, Germany's financial market regulator BaFin reportedly rejected Binance's crypto custody application. Belgium's Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) also recently ordered the exchange to "cease, with immediate effect, offering or providing" its services in the country.

In mid-June, the Paris public prosecutor's office said Binance French unit was being investigated for illegally providing digital asset services and allegedly engaging in "acts of aggravated money laundering."

Around the same time, Binance announced that it was leaving the Netherlands. "Although we explored many alternative avenues to service Dutch residents in compliance with Dutch regulations, unfortunately this has not resulted in a VASP (virtual asset service provider) registration in the Netherlands at this time," the exchange said.

In March, Binance said it was halting sterling deposits and withdrawals after its partner, Paysafe, informed the exchange that it was ending sterling transfer services.

A spokesperson for Skrill, the Paysafe unit that engages with Binance, told Decrypt in March that the two sides "concluded that the UK regulatory environment in relation to crypto is too challenging to offer this service at this time and so this is a prudent decision on our part taken in abundance of caution."

Aside from mounting EU hurdles, Binance is also dealing with problems in the United States.

Binance.US, the crypto exchange's American arm, announced earlier in June that it was suspending U.S. dollar deposits on its platform, citing "extremely aggressive and intimidating tactics" by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Binance said the decision was made in efforts "to protect our customers and platform."

Just this week, Binance was reportedly subjected to searches at its Australia offices by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) as part of an ongoing investigation into the exchange's local derivatives business.