From Scholar to CEO: Richard Teng's Symphony of Success at Binance

Richard Teng, the former CEO of the Abu Dhabi Global Market, succeeded Changpeng Zhao as CEO of Binance in November 2023. Teng is a well-known and successful professional who has made important contributions to finance and regulatory affairs. He has rich experience and skills and has played significant roles in defining the financial environment, notably in fintech, compliance, and risk management. His innovative leadership and strategic expertise have gained him industry prominence as a thought leader. Teng has exhibited a consistent dedication to pushing innovation, encouraging industry growth, and establishing strong regulatory frameworks throughout his career. As a renowned person in the financial sector, he continues to inspire and influence constructive change, leaving an indelible impact on the developing landscape of global banking.

Having worked in the financial services and regulatory industries for more than thirty years, Teng will assume the CEO position after being Binance's global head of regional markets. He aims to support blockchain and crypto adoption by actively engaging both mainstream and Web 3 stakeholders.

Richard Teng - Biography

Richard Teng - Early Life
Richard Teng - Career
Richard Teng - Journey so far
Richard Teng - Binance
Richard Teng - Awards and Recognitions

Richard Teng - Early Life

A native of Singapore, Teng studied at Nanyang Technological University, where he graduated with First Class Honours in Accountancy. He earned his master's degree in Applied Finance from the University of Western Australia. He has completed The Wharton School's Executive Leadership Programme.

Richard Teng - Career

Teng began his career in 1994 as director of corporate finance at the Monetary Authority of Singapore, where he stayed for 13 years until joining the Singapore Exchange as chief regulatory officer in 2007.

Teng is a former CEO of the Abu Dhabi Global Market, the financial services regulator in the UAE capital.

He served as a part-time Board Director of Lulu Financial Group for one year and eight months.

He worked as a freelancer for Blockchain Association Singapore (BAS) as an Advisory Board Member for 2 years and 5 months.

From July 2021, he was a member of the Global FinTech Institute's worldwide Council. It has already been 2 years and 5 months.

Teng has been promoted to the position of CEO of Binance. Most recently, he served as Binance's global head of regional markets. Teng is one of the few top executives who remained with Binance after the US Securities and Exchange Commission brought 13 charges against the cryptocurrency exchange and its founder, Changpeng Zhao.

Richard Teng - Monetary Authority of Singapore

He was the Director of Corporate Finance at MAS for 13 years. As a result, he gained regulatory knowledge in the banking, insurance, and capital markets industries. He was active in a wide-ranging reform of Singapore's financial services business in the late 1990s, pushing moves to develop private banking and capital market sectors. He was in charge of creating and implementing the Securities and Futures Act, as well as building the regulatory framework for REITS, business trusts, and trust companies. He also managed the Singapore Code on Takeovers and Mergers, which governs mergers and acquisitions in Singapore.

Richard Teng - Singapore Exchange

He spent 7 years and 6 months as the Chief Regulatory Officer at Singapore Exchange (SGX). Teng previously served as Senior Vice President, Head of Issuer Regulation, Chief of Staff for Risk Management and Regulation, and Head of Regulation at SGX. He was in charge of the Regulation Group, which works closely with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to maintain a fair, orderly, and transparent market. The Group is responsible for developing policy, structure, and rules for listing, trading, and clearing, as well as regulatory solutions for new products and services. The Group is in charge of overseeing the rules regulating listing, trading, and clearing, as well as accepting listing applications and members and monitoring and enforcing ongoing compliance with the regulations. Issuer Regulation, Catalist Regulation, Membership Supervision, Surveillance, Regulatory Development and Policy, and Legal are the Group's units.

Richard Teng - Abu Dhabi Global Market

Teng joined Abu Dhabi Global Market in March 2015, bringing more than two decades of regulatory leadership and capital markets expertise to the banking industry. As CEO, he was in charge of and directed the establishment and administration of ADGM's financial services regulatory and supervisory framework to promote a fair, open, and transparent financial market.

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Richard Teng - Journey so far

Teng is an accomplished executive with over three decades of expertise in financial services and regulatory affairs.

Binance, which was founded in 2017, is the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, with around 150 million members.

Teng joined the world's largest crypto exchange in 2021 as the CEO of Binance's Singapore Company two years ago.

He remained as Singapore CEO for five months until being appointed as regional head of Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa in April 2023. He managed regional teams to develop strategic alliances, build an ecosystem of innovation, and expand the Bitcoin ecosystem inside their respective areas in this capacity.  

Teng was eventually promoted to head of regional markets in May 2023 before being named CEO of Binance, barely more than two years after joining the company.

Richard Teng - Binance

Teng expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to assume the job of CEO, adding that he would focus on ensuring Binance's 150 million users of the company's financial strength, security, and safety.

His priority will be to reassure users that they can stay confident in the company's financial soundness, security, and safety, as well as working along with authorities.

Teng, who joined as Singapore CEO of Binance in 2021, has a challenging task ahead of him. The exchange's native cryptocurrency, BNB, is down 15% following Zhao's departure, indicating declining client trust. Users withdrew a total of $1.3 billion from the Binance platform, with other cryptocurrencies and blockchain protocols such as Solana and Polygon also suffering losses.

Teng faces a difficult task in restoring Binance's reputation.

Teng's initial responsibility will be to try to repair the company's damaged public image. His priority is to reaffirm the exchange's financial strength, security, and safety to the exchange's 150 million members. Other major areas of emphasis for him will include collaborating with regulators to uphold high standards globally and working with partners to drive growth and adoption of Web3.

Teng stated in a recent post, "To ensure a bright future, I intend to use everything I've learned over the past three decades of financial services and regulatory experience to guide our remarkable, innovative, and dedicated team."

His priorities will be to:

1. Reassure 150 million users about the company's financial strength, security, and safety.
2. Collaborate with regulators to uphold high standards globally that foster innovation while providing important consumer protections.
3. Work with partners to drive Web3's growth and adoption.

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Richard Teng - Awards and Recognitions

• Under his leadership, ADGM was named Financial Centre of the Year (MENA) by Euromoney's Global Investors Group in both 2016 and 2017, collecting back-to-back awards.
• Deloitte and the Global Fintech Hub Federation have named it the best Fintech Hub in the Middle East and North Africa.
• Teng, who has decades of regulatory leadership and financial sector growth expertise, is a frequent worldwide speaker, particularly on FinTech regulations and Belt and Road initiatives.

FAQs

Why did Changpeng Zhao step down as CEO?

He stepped down on November 21, 2023, as part of a $4.3 billion settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to resolve allegations of anti-money laundering (AML) violations and sanctions violations.

Who is the new CEO of Binance?

Richard Teng is the new CEO of Binance.

Is Binance 100% safe?

No, Binance is not 100% safe. No cryptocurrency exchange is completely immune to hacks or other security breaches. However, Binance is considered one of the safest exchanges in the world.