Lauren Benjamin is currently the Chief Compliance Officer for Kraken's US Spot Broker, Pawyard Interactive, Inc. (PWI), and is an established AML/BSA Compliance specialist with 12+ years of industry experience in traditional finance and cryptocurrency compliance. Before joining the Payward Group in 2019, Lauren was a Compliance Officer, AVP, with the Global Governance Group at Bank of the West. Throughout her career in Global Financial Crime Compliance, she has also served as a Senior Investigator with Financial Investigative Units at Bank of the West and Union Bank (MUFG). Lauren received her Masters of Arts in Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (MIIS) and holds a Bachelor’s Degree with honors in Political Science, with a focus in International Security and Globalization and Development. She holds both the ACAMS Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist and Certified Cryptoasset Anti-Financial Crime Specialist, and holds the Chainalysis Reactor Certification.