Crypto broker Genesis Global Trading announced Wednesday that Chief Executive Michael Moro is stepping down as the company shakes up its leadership following layoffs totaling 20 percent of its 260-person workforce.

In July, Moro shared via Twitter the company was mitigating significant losses it incurred from a reported $2.4 billion loan to crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, which filed for bankruptcy. The exposure, combined with turbulence in the crypto market, impacted Genesis’s second-quarter results.

With the departure of Moro, Chief Operating Officer Derar Islim was appointed interim CEO as the company conducts a search for a full-time replacement. Moro will continue to advise the company through the transition.

Prior to joining Genesis in 2020, Islim served as head of risk at Hard Yaka, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm, and vice president at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where he comanaged the company’s funding valuation adjustment trading desk.

Genesis also announced the appointments of Michael Patterson as chief compliance officer, Michael Patchen as chief risk officer, Alice Chan as chief financial officer, and Arianna Pretto-Sakmann as chief legal officer.

Patterson brings 40 years of experience in strategy, profit and loss management, and international operations. He previously worked as senior partner and business leader with EY, Merrill Lynch, BearingPoint, and Arthur Andersen.

Patchen, who previously spent nearly six years with AQR Capital as principal and chief risk officer, will oversee all risk departments. He started his career as a portfolio manager and researcher at SAC Capital and Goldman Sachs.

Chan was previously the CFO of Cantor Fitzgerald’s special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) franchise and served as a member of the board of directors. She also served as the global controller at Cantor Fitzgerald and previously worked at Goldman Sachs.

Pretto-Sakmann brings more than a decade of experience as a lawyer for Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Sullivan & Cromwell.

Jeff Dale is Managing Editor, Editorial Projects and Analytics, at Compliance Week. He previously served as Compliance Week's Digital Editor and has worked as a copy editor at the Boston Herald and city editor at The Hour Publishing Co. in Norwalk, Conn.View full Profile

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