Crypto Clash: Binance's Compliance Chiefs Held in Nigeria

Crypto Clash: Binance's Compliance Chiefs Held in Nigeria
Binance Nigeria - Source picture: CryptoSlate

Hey FinTech Fanatic,

Tigran Gambaryan, who leads the financial-crime compliance team at Binance, took a trip to Abuja, Nigeria, to address a serious accusation. The Nigerian government had accused the world's leading cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, of negatively impacting the national currency.

Tigran, an American and former IRS special agent, thought he was heading out for a straightforward business trip, leaving his family behind in Georgia with just a small suitcase in hand.

However, things didn't go as planned.

Nigerian officials detained him along with his colleague, Nadeem Anjarwalla, a British-Kenyan who oversees Binance's operations in Africa.

Despite being held in a guarded location, they've not been formally charged with any wrongdoing. This situation unfolded after they were officially invited to Nigeria for discussions, but there's been a lack of public communication from the government regarding their detention.

I highly recommend reading this Wired article for more info and the complete story. And of course, I'll keep you posted about any updates.

Enjoy more FinTech industry updates below, and I'll be back in your inbox tomorrow!

Cheers,

Marcel


#FINTECHREPORT

Open Banking FinTechs offer solutions from multiple verticals to various end-user types:


FINTECH NEWS

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🇬🇧 WealthOS, the cloud-native operating system for digital wealth management products, has launched its new solutionfor providers of Self-Invested Personal Pension accounts (SIPPs) in the U.K. Its technology delivers immediate end-to-end benefits from an operating model that is 40% cheaper to run than existing systems and enables three times faster product innovation.

🇧🇷 Banco do Brasil is to work with German firm Giesecke+Devrient (G+D) to test offline payments as part of pilot trials of its central banking digital currency, Drex. The tests will explore payment use cases using the Brazilian digital currencyin situations where there is no internet connection or electricity grid.


PAYMENTS NEWS

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OPEN BANKING NEWS

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REGTECH NEWS

ID fraud may account for 50% of all bank-reported fraud by 2025. Analysis of the UK’s largest database of syndicated risk intelligence shows ID fraud is the top fraud type reported by banks and other financial service providers, accounting for 45% of all adverse contributions made in 2023. This could reach 50% by the end of the year.


DIGITAL BANKING NEWS

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Zeebu, the Web3 Neobank tailor-made for the telecom carrier industry, announced processing over $1 billion in invoice settlement on its platform. The platform's journey to this milestone has been marked by relentless innovation at the crossroads of blockchain technology and financial services, redefining the settlement processes in the telecom sector.

🇺🇸 US neobank Oxygen switches focus from banking to health in new strategyIn a statement on the company’s website, Oxygen says it officially commenced the “account closure process” on 8 March, with both consumers and business users being informed that their accounts will be closed on 29 March.

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DONEDEAL FUNDING NEWS

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M&A

🇪🇸 Amadeus acquires travel payments expert Voxel. This acquisition will enhance the payments experience between a range of different players across the travel ecosystem. With this deal Amadeus continues to expand into areas that are complementary for its existing customers.


MOVERS & SHAKERS

🇺🇸 HSBC is planning to recruit about 50 more bankers in its US commercial bank to lend to start-up companies, mainly in the technology and healthcare sectors, according to a senior executive. The London-headquartered bank hired about 40 people from Silicon Valley Bank after the latter lender failed a year ago. 

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🇬🇧 Starling Bank has appointed Raman Bhatia, the chief executive of energy retailer OVO and former HSBC digital banking lead, as it new CEO. Bhatia will take over from John Mountain, who has been acting as interim CEO since founder Anne Boden retired from the role last year.


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