The head of Dubai’s crypto regulator is poised to depart after less than a year on the job, just as authorities prepare to impose sweeping fines on non-compliant digital-asset firms operating in the emirate.
Henson Orser, who’s run the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority since January, will be replaced by Matthew White, a partner at PwC who has worked with VARA as a consultant, the regulator said in a statement to Bloomberg News on Thursday. A leadership transition will take place “over the coming months,” VARA said.
The leadership change comes just as the Dubai regulator prepares to levy fines on more than a dozen crypto companies that have failed to comply with its guidelines by a Nov. 17 deadline, some of the people said, asking not to be identified discussing a private matter. It wasn’t immediately clear which firms will be fined.
VARA declined to comment on the planned fines.
Crypto exchanges Binance Holdings Ltd., Bybit Fintech Ltd. and OKX, which have partial digital-asset licenses in Dubai, aren’t among firms currently at risk of being fined, according to the people. VARA plans to give a number of applicants, including the three, more time to meet all requirements for a full license, they said.
Orser, a former Nomura Holdings Inc. banker, steered VARA through the adoption of a new regulatory regime for crypto in Dubai that took effect in the first half of 2023, turning the page after an industry reckoning when FTX collapsed late last year.
“It was a great experience and I’m fully vested in a consultative capacity to support VARA,” Orser said. “I’m leaving to pursue other interests.”
The regulator has granted five so-called Virtual Asset Service Provider permits so far, according to its website. On Tuesday, digital-asset exchange Crypto.com told Bloomberg News it’s working to operationalize its license. VARA has also sanctioned several firms and tightened controls, part of a broader push by the United Arab Emirates to get off the Financial Action Task Force’s “gray list” next year.
(Updates with comment from Orser.)
