Today, we’re sharing the next phase of our European journey by announcing new leadership for our European operations. Marcus Hughes, who currently serves as General Counsel for our international operations, has stepped into the role of General Manager for Europe. In this role, he will be responsible for continuing to scale our operations across Europe, along with bringing to market the products and features that our customers want.
It has been a busy few years for Coinbase in Europe. Last year, we rolled out Coinbase Card, a Visa debit card that lets customers in the UK and 26 European countries spend crypto as effortlessly as the money in their traditional bank accounts. We were also approved as a Visa principal member, a first for a crypto company.
On the regulatory front, in 2018 Coinbase became the first crypto company to meet the exacting standards of the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and receive an E-Money license, and to be given access to the Faster Payments Scheme (which allowed our customers to benefit from seamless, instantaneous deposits and withdrawals). A little over a year later, we again blazed a trail for the crypto space by being one of the first financial services companies to be given an E-Money license in Ireland.
For the past two years, Marcus has led numerous complex projects for Coinbase around the world as we have grown internationally. He has also been responsible for establishing and maintaining our regulatory relationships across multiple regions, working closely with regulators to educate them on crypto and advocating for appropriate regulation. Prior to joining Coinbase, Marcus spent almost a decade at Morgan Stanley, where he was an Executive Director in its legal and compliance division and specialised in electronic trading across equities and fixed income.
Marcus moves into his new role as our current European lead, Zeeshan Feroz, transitions into a new phase of his journey with Coinbase. After leading in the region for more than three years and driving many of the initiatives mentioned above, Zee is shifting into a role as a strategic consultant for the company. In this new position, he’ll draw from his years of experience with Coinbase and other roles to help the company on a range of projects.
Please join us in congratulating Marcus on his new role, and recognizing Zee for his tireless efforts to bring access to the cryptoeconomy to our customers throughout Europe.
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