Globally, women still have fewer inheritance rights than men. According to the World Development Report in 2012, 5–45 percent of female respondents in any given jurisdiction said they didn’t have control over their own income.
Since financial abuse happens across income levels, two of the leading women executives in Silicon Valley share career advice and management tips.
There’s a common myth that women are less likely to be interested in bitcoin than men. The reality is people with higher income levels have a greater propensity for cryptocurrency, and women still earn significantly less than men.
Sexism isn’t only a problem in the so-called third world. A 2010 report by the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention showed roughly 11 percent of reports from women in abusive relationships came from upper-middle-class or wealthy households.
Later, we’ll discuss how crypto startups can recruit diverse women and recognize untapped talent.
Gemini Hires Former Circle Compliance Officer to Oversee European Market
Cryptocurrency exchange Gemini has hired former Circle compliance officer Blair Halliday as chief compliance officer and money-laundering reporting officer for the U.K. and Europe, the company announced Tuesday.Halliday will report to Gemini’s managing director of U.K. and Europe, Julian Sawyer, and will work closely with the firm’s NYC-based chief compliance officer, Noah Perlman, who was formerly global head of financial crimes at Morgan Stanley.
The move comes as ramped-up regulations go into effect with the European Union’s Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD5), which requires crypto firms to demonstrate compliance with enhanced know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money-laundering (AML) procedures.
Halliday’s first project will be ensuring that Gemini’s risk management practices are in place as the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority reviews its e-money license application, Sawyer said.
“At the moment, our customers in the U.K. have to send money to the U.S. as a wire transfer”, Sawyer said. “An e-money license would allow them to deposit local currency without foreign exchange costs.”
At Circle, Halliday was chief compliance officer for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Before that, he was executive director of financial crime and compliance at fintech startup CashFlows and chief compliance officer at the International Currency Exchange. He began his career at the Royal Bank of Scotland, where he spent 14 years in financial crime–related roles.
Gemini Continues European Expansion With New Institutional Sales Role
The New York-regulated exchange Gemini is looking to expand its foothold in Europe, advertising for a new director-level role to head institutional sales.The new director for European sales will promote and grow Gemini’s business across Europe and the U.K. as well as «generate new business» by creating relationships with institutional clients, the exchange said in a LinkedIn post on Tuesday.
The new sales director will work closely with Gemini’s European managing director in the London office but will report directly to the managing director of operations based in New York. While the exchange already has a U.S.-based sales team, the new role is designed to enhance the exchange’s institutional global sales capability.
Speaking to CoinDesk at the CryptoCompare Digital Asset Summit last week, Julian Sawyer, managing director of Gemini Europe, said European expansion was «critically important.»
«Gemini is very well known in the states, particularly in New York; coming here, Gemini has a lower profile … so we need to build that up and the credibility,» said Sawyer, who joined Gemini in December after being chief operating officer of Starling, a U.K. challenger bank.
«Part of what I’m doing is just letting people know that we Gemini are here … that we’ve got a little bit more serious in the crypto world by hiring bankers,» he added.
As part of this new charm offensive, Sawyer said Gemini was already talking with local fintech providers about possible API integrations. The newly formed institutional sales division will begin cultivating relationships with big players in both the U.K. and Europe months or even years before they consider becoming a full Gemini client.
Although Gemini is only hiring a sales director currently, Sawyer added the exchange planned to hire more members for its European sales team as its regional presence continues to expand.
In December 2019, the U.S.-based asset manager Fidelity said it was setting up an entity to provide digital asset services for institutional investors.
