The CEO of the largest crypto exchange Binance has revealed plans to increase its headcount by 200 people this year, with 20% of the new employees focused on compliance.

Richard Teng said that Binance intends to increase its staff from 500 to 700 people. The company’s annual compliance costs have exceeded $200 million, so the exchange has needed to bring in additional staff. Binance currently employs more than 5,000 people in more than 100 branches. Teng clarified that the new employees will also work in customer service.

The crypto exchange’s CEO said he met with officials in the United States for the first time since Binance entered into a plea agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice. The agreement includes a $4.3 billion fine for violating anti-money laundering (AML) and the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). However, he did not provide any details on the outcome of the meetings — particularly with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which sued Binance a year ago.

According to Teng, the number of requests the exchange has received from law enforcement agencies around the world has grown to 63,000 this year, up from 58,000 in 2023. Binance has received requests for information from law enforcement in Macau, for example, which is why the exchange announced in August that it was collaborating with the Macau Judicial Police to combat crypto fraud.

Binance previously reported that it had helped recover more than $73 million worth of crypto assets stolen in hacks since the beginning of the year. In June, Binance took part in the investigation of a hacker attack on Turkish crypto exchange BtcTurk.