Richard Teng, the new CEO of leading crypto exchange Binance, has had a somewhat shaky public debut.

The company’s founder, Changpeng Zhao, also known as “CZ,” decided to resign as part of a $4.3 billion (approximately 623.5 billion yen, equivalent to 145 yen to the dollar) legal settlement with the U.S. government. In his first public interview since taking over, Teng, who took over as CEO last month, admitted that Binance’s compliance system had been inadequate and made mistakes in the past. However, Teng, who has held senior positions at Binance for several years, declined to answer questions about the company’s governance.

attitude of avoiding answers

Moderator Scott Cipolina, a digital assets correspondent for the Financial Times, asked Ten a number of simple questions about Binance, but Ten seemed to avoid answering them. . Cipollina was in London, but Teng appeared remotely via video.

After repeatedly trying to elicit answers from Teng, Cipollina said, “I asked where Binance’s global headquarters are, whether Binance was going to be audited, and how many employees the company currently has on its books.” “And whether you are applying for a license in the UK, which Binance told us at the recent Financial Times Crypto Conference. You have not answered these questions.”

“I answered all the questions,” Teng said, seemingly unable to bear it anymore.

When asked again about Binance’s headquarters, Teng replied, “We are considering it.” When asked about the future of Binance and how it will change under new leadership, Teng remained vague. “A lot of things are going to change,” he said, before he began talking about the state of the industry.

Admit mistakes in compliance

Teng began the interview with a statement that appeared to have been prepared in advance, saying that “mistakes were made” and that the compliance controls Binance had in place were “inadequate” for its size. Going forward, Binance said it aims to be both a “compliance-driven” and “user-driven” organization.

When asked if Binance will be audited soon, Teng said that since Binance is a private company and does not raise funds publicly, “there is no obligation to disclose such facts,” but auditors will said he had that information.

Ciopolina found this answer insufficient and asked again if Binance intended to be audited. Teng said she is “audited in every regulatory jurisdiction in which we operate,” but when asked to name the specific auditors, she did not respond.

｜Translation and editing: Rinan Hayashi
｜Image: CoinDesk/Lyllah Ledesma
｜Original text: New Binance CEO Evasive in First Marquee Interview Since Getting One of the Biggest Jobs in Crypto