Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss arrive at the White House Correspondents Association Dinner on May 3, 2014 in Washington, DC. Rena Schild/Shutterstock
Cryptocurrency exchange Gemini has appointed a new chief compliance and money laundering reporting officer for its U.K. and EU affiliate, the company said in a press release on 28 January.
According to the announcement, Blair Halliday will be the one overseeing Gemini Europe’s compliance program, as part of the firm’s expansion into the region. Halliday will report directly to Gemini’s managing director of the U.K. and Europe, Julian Sawyer, and will be based in London.
Halliday previously served as Circle’s chief compliance officer for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, where he headed the firm’s global anti-money laundering compliance program. Before that, he served as executive director of financial crime and compliance at fintech startup CashFlows, and as chief compliance officer at the International Currency Exchange. Prior to his involvement with fintech and digital assets, Halliday spent 14 years of his life at the Royal Bank of Scotland, where he was focused on financial crime–related roles.
The move from Gemini comes only weeks after the European Union’s Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD5) went into effect. The new rules require crypto exchanges and custodial service providers to register with their local regulator, and demonstrate compliance with know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering AML procedures. Sawyer said in a statement:
“Blair’s deep domain expertise makes him uniquely poised to drive Gemini’s compliance efforts in the U.K. His leadership will be critical in our mission to work with regulators to promote smart frameworks that encourage growth in the crypto industry.”
Last week, Gemini became the first cryptocurrency exchange and custodian to complete a SOC 2 Type 2 cybersecurity risk evaluation. In order to show its users that their data and cryptocurrency are well protected, the exchange has vowed to conduct such evaluation annually.