|
The
company said last week it would "vigorously" fight the
allegations after the U.S Department of Justice charged the
exchange's three founders, Arthur Hayes, Samuel Reed and
Benjamin Delo with violating the federal Bank Secrecy Act.
Gregory Dwyer, its first employee, was also charged.
Prosecutors said BitMEX had made itself a "vehicle" for money
laundering and sanctions violations.
BitMEX said Hayes and Reed have "stepped back from all executive
management responsibilities for their respective CEO and CTO
roles with immediate effect," adding they and Delo would not
hold executive positions and that Dwyer would take a leave of
absence from his role as head of business development.
Chief Operating Officer Vivien Khoo, will take over as chief
executive. She previously held roles at Goldman Sachs and Hong
Kong's markets watchdog.
The statement said the management changes had been made with the
"full approval" of the founders.
“These changes to our executive leadership mean we can focus on
our core business of offering superior trading opportunities for
all our clients," David Wong, chairman of 100x Group, BitMEX's
parent, said in the statement.
Hayes and Delo did not immediately respond to requests for
comment sent via their social media profiles and Reed could not
be reached for comment. Dwyer's lawyer, Sean Hecker, who earlier
said his client would contest the charges, did not immediately
respond to an emailed request for comment.
BitMEX is one of the world's largest bitcoin futures trading
platforms, popular for its high liquidity and compliance
requirements that are seen as less onerous than those for
futures venues regulated in major financial centres.
(Reporting by Alun John in Hong Kong and Tom Wilson in London;
Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
