FILE PHOTO: Smartphone with displayed Binance logo and representation of cryptocurrencies are placed on a keyboard in this illustration taken, June 8, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
(Reuters) -Binance executives met U.S. Treasury officials last month and discussed loosening government oversight of the company, while exploring a business deal with President Donald Trump’s crypto venture, World Liberty Financial, the Wall Street Journal said.
Executives of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange asked Treasury officials to remove a U.S. monitor overseeing its compliance with anti-money-laundering laws, the paper said on Friday, citing people familiar with the talks.
Binance has also been in talks to list a new dollar-pegged cryptocurrency from World Liberty Financial, it added.
At the meeting, Binance CEO Richard Teng and Chief Legal Officer Eleanor Hughes asked for the removal of monitorship or reduction of its duration and scope, the paper said.
Binance, the Treasury Department and World Liberty Financial did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.
Last month, the Journal said Binance's billionaire founder Changpeng Zhao had been pushing for a pardon from the administration.
In November 2023, Zhao stepped down from his CEO role and pleaded guilty to breaking U.S. anti-money laundering laws in a $4.3-billion settlement that resolved a years-long investigation.
(Reporting by Gnaneshwar Rajan in Bengaluru; Editing by William Mallard and Clarence Fernandez)
