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Taxes, ability to lure staff key to HQ location decision

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US to prompt global overhaul of crypto rules, Teng says

By Federico Maccioni

ABU DHABI, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Cryptocurrency exchange

Binance has yet to decide where to base its global headquarters,

its CEO told Reuters on Monday, years after it flagged a

decision was imminent, but the executive pointed to moves it has

made to improve corporate governance.

"We are still working very hard on this (the HQ). It's a

very complicated issue with many different complexities," CEO

Richard Teng said in an interview on the sidelines of the Abu

Dhabi Finance Week annual conference.

Binance, the world largest cryptocurrency exchange, has long

said a decision on a global HQ would come soon. Revealing the

location of a head office is seen as part of its push to improve

transparency in the wake of criminal charges against its former

CEO Changpeng Zhao.

Zhao, known as "CZ", pleaded guilty to violating U.S. laws

against money laundering at Binance, and spent months in jail

earlier this year.

Teng said tax laws and the ability to lure staff would drive

the decision on the HQ location.

Binance is "still in deep conversation" with several

jurisdictions he said, without providing specific names.

The company has been granted 20 licenses and registrations

across the world so far, according to its website, including in

Abu Dhabi and earlier this year by Dubai's virtual assets

regulator VARA.

Binance introduced a board of directors earlier this year

for the first time. It comprises seven members, including three

independent directors.

"Binance has gone from a founder, CEO-led company to a

board-led company," Teng told Reuters, adding he speaks to Zhao

occasionally and that the former CEO "has all the rights

associated with any shareholder of any company."

The world largest cryptocurrency, bitcoin, hit a record high

above $100,000 last week amid expectations U.S. President-elect

Donald Trump's administration will usher in a lighter-touch

regulatory environment for cryptocurrencies.

Teng was attending the yearly gathering of global and

regional financiers, while on the other side of town, Binance is

one of the sponsors of a bitcoin conference that will feature

Eric Trump, the U.S. president-elect's son, as a speaker.

"Globally, you're going to see much more enlightened

regulations being adopted," Teng said, asked about the impact of

the incoming U.S. administration on the red-hot sector.

Should the U.S. adopt a strategic bitcoin reserve, as

signalled by Trump, Teng foresees "many other countries jumping

on the bandwagon".