BSA/AML Officer
At a glance
Mid-level Risk & Financial Compliance role at Bullish. New York · full-time · $175,000–$215,000 base.
financeroles summary, based on the employer's posting.
What you'll do
- Run US compliance for spot, derivatives and tokenized securities, covering BSA/AML, sanctions, fraud, market integrity and licensing
- Set and maintain risk-based BSA/AML and OFAC controls, monitor their performance and oversee work handled by offshore affiliates
- Manage regulatory filings, including timely suspicious activity reports, and keep required compliance records
- Assess BSA/AML, customer identification and sanctions risks, then refine monitoring alerts and address control issues
- Prepare regular management metrics, train staff on financial-crime duties, and lead regulator examinations and audit coordination
What you bring
- Relevant financial-crime, BSA/AML, investigation, risk, audit or compliance experience, including work involving digital assets
- You have handled regulatory exams and relationships with examiners, auditors and banking partners
- You know the BSA, USA PATRIOT Act, OFAC rules, and relevant SEC, CFTC, FINRA and NFA requirements
- A bachelor's degree or equivalent experience is required
Who this fits
This role suits an experienced compliance professional ready to lead US BSA/AML and sanctions programs across several regulated business lines. It is based in New York and requires at least four office days each week.
From the employer
About Bullish
Bullish is an institutionally focused global digital asset platform that provides market infrastructure and information services. These include: Bullish Exchange – a regulated and institutionally focused digital assets spot and derivatives exchange, integrating a high-performance central limit order book matching engine with automated market making to provide deep and predictable liquidity. Bullish Exchange is regulated in Germany, Hong Kong, and Gibraltar. CoinDesk Indices – a collection of tradable proprietary and single-asset benchmarks and indices that track the performance of digital assets for global institutions in the digital assets and traditional finance industries. CoinDesk Data - a broad suite of digital assets market data and analytics, providing real-time insights into prices, trends, and market dynamics. CoinDesk Insights – a digital asset media and events provider and operator of Coindesk.com, a digital media platform that covers news and insights about digital assets, the underlying markets, policy, and blockchain technology.
Reports to:
Position Overview
We are seeking a BSA/AML Officer for Bullish’s regulated US digital currency trading business. In this role, you will be a key pillar in our US business expansion by leading the US Compliance program and acting as the regional BSA/AML Officer. This role supports the spot, derivative, and tokenized securities business lines in the US, encompassing the MTL businesses (spot), FCM, and Broker Dealer entities. In this role, you will be responsible for our BSA/AML & OFAC Sanctions programs and ensuring that we maintain compliance with all applicable local, US, and international laws and regulations impacting the digital currency industry.
This position is based in NYC and will be required to work from our NYC office a minimum of 4 days per week.
Responsibilities:
Lead the compliance program for tokenized securities, derivatives, and spot trading to meet all applicable state and federal regulatory requirements and reflect the nature of a rapidly changing risk landscape, including:
BSA/AML compliance;
Sanctions compliance
fraud risk;
market integrity;
Compliance with state licensing requirements;
Implement the domestic BSA/AML and OFAC compliance programs in line with U.S. regulatory requirements.
Maintain risk-based BSA/AML and OFAC policies and procedures addressing all areas of BSA/AML and OFAC; advise Bullish staff and management of deficiencies and ensure that required changes are made.
Direct the domestic BSA/AML and OFAC compliance monitoring program to ensure there are sufficient internal controls to promote an effective control environment.
Coordinate with offshore affiliates and exercise oversight to ensure any controls performed on behalf of the U.S. entity by the affiliates are performed to a standard that meets U.S. requirements.
Oversee regulatory reporting to FinCEN, SEC, CFTC, FINRA, NFA, NYDFS, and other federal and state regulators, as necessary, to comply with Bullish’s BSA/AML reporting obligations, including ensuring the timely filing of suspicious activity reports (“SARs”).
Ensure the BSA/AML program strictly adheres to FINRA Rule 3310 (for the Broker Dealer) and NFA Compliance Rule 2-9(c) (for the FCM).
Prepare monthly and quarterly management reporting of BSA/AML-related metrics.
Identify, escalate, track, and remediate, as necessary, BSA/AML compliance-related issues.
Perform BSA/AML, CIP, and OFAC risk assessments as needed and work with stakeholders and various forms of data to inform, update, streamline and optimize the BSA/AML and OFAC program.
Lead the process for ensuring all BSA/AML and OFAC reports are filed as required and all BSA/AML and OFAC related records are maintained according to regulatory requirements.
Contribute to building a compliance culture across the firm by training Bullish employees on key policies, procedures, and their responsibilities in preventing financial crime.
Continually review and refine alert thresholds and organizational configurations in the transactional monitoring system to ensure alerts are appropriately set and suspicious activity is detected as expected.
Coordinate with and serve as point-of-contact for audits and regulatory examinations of the compliance program and represent Bullish in meetings with regulators.
Experience & Qualifications:
Sufficient experience in one or a combination of the following to satisfy the requirements to be appointed into the role: financial crime, Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), Anti-Money Laundering (AML), financial crime investigations, and/or risk management, audit, compliance, specifically with exposure to digital assets.
Experience in managing regulatory examinations and relationships with examiners (e.g., NYDFS, FINRA, NFA, SEC, CFTC), auditors, and banking partners.
Extensive knowledge of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), USA PATRIOT Act, OFAC regulations, as well as SEC, CFTC, FINRA, and NFA rules and requirements.
Awareness of regulatory requirements including local and US laws, international and industry standards.
Strong attention to detail and strong organizational, problem solving, analytical, and management skills.
Ability to execute in a fast paced, high demand environment while managing multiple priorities.
Bachelor’s Degree/University degree or equivalent experience; Advanced degree (e.g. JD, MBA, etc.) preferred.
Active FINRA Series 7 and 24 (or 14) licenses, and Series 3 or willingness to obtain them within a specified timeframe is preferred.
Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS), Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager (CRCM), Certified Financial Crime Specialist (CFCS) and/or related professional certification preferred.
Bullish US LLC & CoinDesk Inc. are committed to offering competitive compensation and benefits. The anticipated base salary for this position is $175,000 - $215,000 + discretionary annual target bonus + performance incentives/benefits. Offered salary will be reflective of job related knowledge, skills and commensurate experience.
Bullish is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We are fast evolving and striving towards being a globally-diverse community. With integrity at our core, our success is driven by a talented team of individuals and the different perspectives they are encouraged to bring to work every day.