Director, US Compliance & BSA/AML Officer

The Bullish Group has built an ecosystem focused on developing financial services for the digital assets sector through technology and investment businesses. These include: Bullish Exchange - digital asset trading services that utilize central limit order matching and proprietary market making technology to deliver deep liquidity and tight spreads within a compliant framework. The business is licensed by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, and the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission. Since its launch in November 2021, Bullish Exchange has surpassed US$1.3 trillion in total trading volume, with 2H 2024 average daily volume exceeding US$2 billion. Bullish Capital - an investment company which offers strategic capital, industry expertise and an extensive network of resources to support initiatives that connect conventional finance with the revolutionary possibilities of the digital economy. CoinDesk - an award-winning media, events, indices and data business servicing the global crypto economy.

Reports to:

Position Overview

We are seeking a Director of US Compliance for Bullish’s regulated US digital currency trading business. In this role, you will be a key pillar in our US business expansion by leading the US Compliance program and acting as the regional BSA/AML Officer. As the Director of US Compliance, you will be responsible for our BSA/AML & OFAC Sanctions programs and ensuring that we maintain compliance with all applicable local, US, and international laws and regulations impacting the digital currency industry. 

This position is based in NYC and will be required to work from our NYC office near Union Square. The role reports to the Global Chief Operating Officer. 

Responsibilities:

• Lead the compliance program for both fiat and crypto trading to meet all applicable state and federal regulatory requirements and reflect the nature of a rapidly changing risk landscape, including

  • BSA/AML compliance;

  • fraud risk;

  • market integrity;

  • Compliance with state licensing requirements;

  • Oversight over compliance with applicable state and federal cybersecurity requirements;

  • Other business conduct requirements.

• Implement the domestic BSA/AML and OFAC compliance programs in line with U.S. regulatory requirements.

• Maintain risk-based BSA/AML and OFAC policies and procedures addressing all areas of BSA/AML and OFAC; advise Bullish staff and management of deficiencies and ensure that required changes are made.

• Direct the domestic BSA/AML and OFAC compliance monitoring program to ensure there are sufficient internal controls to promote an effective control environment.

• Coordinate with offshore affiliates and exercise oversight to ensure any controls performed on behalf of the U.S. entity by the affiliates are performed to a standard that meets U.S. requirements;

• Oversee regulatory reporting to FinCEN and other federal and state regulators, as necessary, to comply with Bullish’s BSA/AML reporting obligations, including ensuring the timely filing of suspicious activity reports (“SARs”);

• Prepare monthly and quarterly management reporting of BSA/AML-related metrics;

• Identify, escalate, track, and remediate, as necessary, BSA/AML compliance-related issues;

• Perform BSA/AML, CIP, and OFAC risk assessments as needed and work with stakeholders and various forms of data to inform, update, streamline and optimize the BSA/AML and OFAC program.

• Lead the process for ensuring all BSA/AML and OFAC reports are filed as required and all BSA/AML and OFAC related records are maintained according to regulatory requirements

• Contribute to building a compliance culture across the firm by training Bullish employees on key policies, procedures, and their responsibilities in preventing financial crime

• Continually review and refine alert thresholds and organizational configurations in the transactional monitoring system to ensure alerts are appropriately set and suspicious activity is detected as expected

• Coordinate with and serve as point-of-contact for audits and regulatory examinations of the compliance program and represent Bullish in meetings with regulators

Experience & Qualifications: 

• Sufficient experience in one or a combination of the following to satisfy the requirements to be appointed into the role: financial crime, Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), Anti-Money Laundering (AML), financial crime investigations, and/or risk management, audit, compliance, specifically with exposure to digital assets.

• Experience in managing regulatory examinations and relationships with examiners, auditors, etc.

• Extensive knowledge of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), Anti-Money Laundering (AML), USA PATRIOT Act and OFAC regulations and requirements. 

• Awareness of regulatory requirements including local and US laws, international and industry standards

• Strong attention to detail and strong organizational, problem solving, analytical, and management skills

• Ability to execute in a fast paced, high demand environment while managing multiple priorities

• Bachelor’s Degree/University degree or equivalent experience; Advanced degree (e.g. JD, MBA, etc.) preferred

• Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS), Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager (CRCM), Certified Financial Crime Specialist (CFCS) and/or related professional certification preferred

Bullish US LLC & CoinDesk Inc. are committed to offering competitive compensation and benefits. The anticipated base salary for this position is $265,000 - $300,000 + discretionary annual target bonus + performance incentives/benefits. Offered salary will be reflective of job related knowledge, skills and commensurate experience.

Bullish is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We are fast evolving and striving towards being a globally-diverse community. With integrity at our core, our success is driven by a talented team of individuals and the different perspectives they are encouraged to bring to work every day.