After two years of employment and four promotions, what is the background of Richard Teng, who is rumored to be the successor of Zhao Changpeng?

Author: Nancy, PANews

On June 5, Bloomberg reported that as U.S. regulators have intensified their scrutiny of Binance in recent months, the regulatory predicament has made the issue of succession for its CEO more urgent. Sources revealed that if Changpeng Zhao resigns, Richard Teng, the newly appointed head of Binance's Middle East and North Africa region, would be a strong candidate to succeed him as CEO.

Meanwhile, a former Binance employee, speaking anonymously, told CoinDesk, "The senior leadership and regulators have privately discussed and believe Richard Teng is the only leader who can take over from Changpeng Zhao and continue to build the company according to his vision, while also helping bridge the existing gap between the industry and regulators."

In response, Richard Teng stated in an interview with CoinDesk that it is too early to speculate that he is being groomed to "succeed Changpeng Zhao as CEO of Binance," and that his new position merely expands his responsibilities in assisting Zhao in reviewing certain matters. He also mentioned, "If you look back over the past 18 to 24 months, you can see that Binance has undergone a significant shift in compliance, but we acknowledge that there have been issues in the past. We hope to address all these policy issues responsibly with all parties and continue to prove that we are a completely new organization."

This Binance executive has sparked public curiosity: who exactly is Richard Teng?

Promoted Four Times in Less Than Two Years

Although the name Richard Teng may be unfamiliar to many, he has rapidly risen through the ranks in less than two years and recently became the head of all regional markets outside the U.S. for Binance.

Public information shows that Richard Teng is a 52-year-old Singaporean with a master's degree in applied finance from the University of Western Australia. Before joining Binance, Richard Teng worked for the Monetary Authority of Singapore for 13 years and served as the Chief Regulatory Officer at the Singapore Exchange (SGX) for nearly eight years starting in 2007, where he was responsible for the formulation of rules, frameworks, and policies for listing, trading, and clearing. He then spent six years as the head of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority in Abu Dhabi Global Market.

With over 20 years of experience in financial services and regulation, Richard Teng has extensive compliance experience, making him an ideal candidate to help guide Binance through its regulatory challenges, as noted in reports. Notably, Richard Teng was also named one of the "100 Most Influential People in the UAE" by Arabian Business. According to the list, during his tenure as CEO of ADGM's FSRA, he launched several first-of-their-kind products, including digital banking, venture capital, a fintech regulatory sandbox, a private REIT regime, a manager licensing regime, and a digital asset trading framework.

In August 2021, Richard Teng joined Binance as the CEO for the Singapore region. From December 2021 to October 2022, he served as the new head of Binance's Middle East and North Africa region. From November 2022 to April 2023, Richard Teng was in charge of Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and non-U.S. regions, and two months later, he was appointed to lead all regional markets outside the U.S. From the timeline, Richard Teng has been promoted four times in less than two years, almost at rocket speed.

Moreover, Richard Teng has recently participated in various events on behalf of Binance at a high frequency and has actively operated his Twitter account since May this year, with 28 out of 29 tweets being posted since May, indicating that Richard Teng has significantly increased his external presence following his latest promotion.

Richard Teng is on the left of Changpeng Zhao.

According to Changpeng Zhao's recent comments on Twitter Space, Richard Teng was introduced to him by an employee of the Singapore central bank, and he decided to hire him two weeks after their conversation. Regarding this executive, Binance co-founder He Yi expressed confidence in a recent interview, stating, "I think he is an experienced professional manager. Since he joined Binance, his scope has been continuously expanding, and we all like and recognize Richard."

Regulatory Crackdowns in Multiple Countries, Is Dubai Key to Binance's Expansion?

In recent months, Binance has faced regulatory scrutiny from authorities in the U.S., Australia, Canada, and other countries, forcing the trading platform to halt operations in related regions, leading to a decline in Binance's market share due to multiple enforcement actions. Although Binance's market share once exceeded half the market due to the FTX incident, according to the latest data from CCData, the exchange's market share has decreased by about 10.8% from March to the present.

For Binance, the pressure from U.S. regulators has been particularly challenging. For instance, after the crypto exchange BitMEX was sued by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), its executives collectively resigned. Samuel Lim, who began serving as Binance's Chief Compliance Officer in 2018, left in 2022 and was charged by the SEC earlier this year for assisting and encouraging Binance's violations. Binance has listed compliance as one of its top priorities for 2023 and has added hundreds of employees to its compliance department. According to Changpeng Zhao, Binance currently has a compliance team of over 750 people, most of whom have backgrounds in law enforcement and regulatory agencies.

In contrast to countries like the U.S., Dubai has been seen as one of the crypto-friendly nations, attracting thousands of crypto companies. Binance has also positioned Dubai as a new safe haven, having obtained a virtual asset license from Dubai's regulatory authorities, and it has an office in the country with over 700 employees. Changpeng Zhao has expressed that Dubai has become one of the global centers for crypto innovation, and Binance's presence in the city continues to grow; he even purchased his first home in Dubai to show his support for the city.

However, the bankruptcy of FTX has led Dubai, which has traditionally been friendly to the crypto industry, to begin scrutinizing cryptocurrency license applicants more rigorously. In February of this year, the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) issued the "2023 Virtual Assets and Related Activities Regulations," requiring crypto companies to obtain authorization and relevant licenses to operate in Dubai, covering everything from cybersecurity standards to compliance and risk management standards, involving specific activities such as issuance, consulting, custody, and exchange services.

Months later, according to Bloomberg, VARA officials recently requested Binance to provide more information about its ownership structure, governance, and audit procedures; VARA requires similar information from all international companies seeking licenses. VARA officials are also seeking information about ownership, audit, and board procedures at the global level of Binance. This presents new regulatory challenges for Binance's operations in Dubai.

"I believe that the UAE and Dubai are among the most progressive governments in the world and can lead the world. Working with the Dubai government, you realize how supportive this country is of innovation, crypto adoption, and blockchain development, which is helpful because these factors will become pillars of the future economy. We are considering how to further support the government, share our expertise and knowledge, so that this progressive system can effectively manage systemic risks, anti-money laundering risks, while also supporting innovation and growth," Richard Teng stated in an interview. For Binance, having Richard Teng based in Dubai may be one of the key figures in its comprehensive expansion into the region.