Backpack Appoints Former Citibank Executive as Head of Audit

While the U.S. Securities and Exchanges Commission circles in on leading cryptocurrency exchanges like Coinbase and Binance, Backpack Exchange is taking steps to establish itself as a fully regulated and compliant trading platform.

In a bid to solidify user trust and bring greater regulatory clarity and audit integrity to the exchange, BackPack announced the appointment of Citibank Executive Laurence King as the company’s Head of Audit.

King brings almost 30 years of experience leading audit and risk functions at heavyweight global financial institutions. Joining the Backpack team, King will spearhead the exchange’s mission to implement industry-leading internal audit practices, ensuring that the Backpack remains compliant with stringent regulatory requirements across different jurisdictions. 

In this integral role, King hopes to enhance the platform’s transparency for users and usher in a new era of improved auditing standards in the cryptocurrency industry.

“I am thrilled to join Backpack at this pivotal moment in its journey. The digital asset space holds tremendous potential, but it has often been marred by a lack of robust audit practices and controls. Despite having only launched in November 2023, Backpack has already demonstrated a strong commitment to compliance and accountability, and I am excited to spearhead its efforts to build out our global audit and compliance frameworks, and help enhance integrity and transparency in the cryptocurrency industry.”

Who is Laurence King?

Boasting decades of experience in the global financial sector, Laurence King has led Audit and Regulatory Risk departments for some of the world’s most prominent firms. Before joining Backpack, King served as the Head of Audit at Citibank in various APAC jurisdictions, while also operating as the company’s APAC Head of Regulatory Engagement. In this role, King oversaw regulatory audits for Citibank with the Japan Financial Services Agency, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, and over a dozen other regulators in the APAC region.

Prior to his seven-year tenure at Citibank, King held senior management roles at distinguished enterprises. Notably, King served as the Executive Director of IT Regulatory Risk at Morgan Stanley APAC, Deutsche Bank Singapore’s Principal Audit Manager, and spent several years as Audit Manager and Head of IT Risk Governance at JP Morgan Chase APAC.

Leveraging his wealth of experience, King is well-equipped to oversee and orchestrate complex audit procedures and implement secure operational frameworks at scale, while ensuring transparency and clarity as Backpack works towards its goals.

The Cryptocurrency Exchange Landscape

Since its inception, maladministered and opaque cryptocurrency exchanges have hampered the growth and adoption of the blockchain industry. Devastating events, such as the collapse of Sam Bankman Fried’s FTX exchange have given cryptocurrency exchanges a poor reputation in the eyes of traditional finance.

Regulatory woes peaked last December, when the U.S. Department of Justice fined Binance, the largest crypto exchange in the industry, to the value of $4.3B for willfully circumventing AML (Anti-Money Laundering) controls. 

This is far from the only occasion that the U.S. Government has taken legal action against crypto exchanges. Other milestone legal battles include the SEC's lawsuits against Coinbase and Kraken, with charges being laid against these exchanges for allegedly selling unregistered securities and failing to register crypto staking protocols, respectively.

Backpack’s appointment of Laurence King signals a turning point. Armani Ferrante, founder of Backpack Exchange, reinforces this notion, claiming that:

“As we have seen in the past few years, inadequate internal controls at centralized crypto exchanges have resulted in significant failures, holding back our industry from gaining user trust and going mainstream. At Backpack, our mission is to build a crypto exchange that sets new standards for transparency, auditability, and accountability. Laurence’s appointment demonstrates that we’re committed to moving towards this goal.”

The announcement comes following continued growth for the cryptocurrency exchange, which now supports over 40 digital assets on its popular trading platform. 

Beyond expanding trading capabilities on the exchange, the Backpack team has also improved the functionality and interoperability of their wallet software in recent weeks, implementing more EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) chains like Base and Arbitrum. 

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