If you are interested in this candidate, please contact Charlie Watson via email cwatson@cerfinancial.co.uk or call on 0207 626 6065.

00182676

PROFILE:

A compliance, AML/KYC/ Regulatory Consultant with over 10 years’ experience in financial services and consulting, possessing a track record of effectively working with stakeholders to create superior solutions that support business change and meet evolving financial services regulatory requirements.

Strengths include working with senior management to understand business drivers and constructing aligned Target Operating Models (TOM) across people, processes and technology; acting as a bridge between business and IT to engage key stakeholders and elicit unambiguous requirements. Deep understanding of current and evolving banking regulations to aid the design of fit for purpose, compliant, future proofed processes and systems. The ability to visualise a complex array of business process interdependencies to better appraise risks within business and IT change.

Exceptional relationship builder, negotiator, effectively communicating and selling strategic plans and programs to executive-level decision makers. Collaborating with stakeholders at all levels to effectively prioritise activities and achieve defined objectives, realising corporate performance goals and targets

EDUCATION & QUALIFICATIONS:

• ICA Diploma Governance Risk and Compliance
• MSc. Information Systems and Technology (Salford Business School)

CAREER HISTORY:

January 2016 – December 2024

Banking

KYC/AML SME & Team lead

Joined as Regulatory SME Lead within the Financial Markets Clients Onboarding London reporting to head of KYC UK & Middle East, working within Client Onboarding and CDD team and supporting the project.

• Arranging and coordinating with FCC to perform CDD, MiFID, FATCA, ESR when sanction breach has been identified on all customers and Business partners, Providing SME input to key sanction-related projects to drive successful and timely completion of project deliverables.
• Implementing and maintaining compliant and effective systems and control framework for AML transaction monitoring, name screening for global/capital markets and correspondent banking. Drafting reports, proposals, risk assessments to support global policy.
• Reviewing, assessing of client related policies and identifying areas of improvement in terms of consistency and clear unambiguous interpretation, deliver policy training and ensuring all task/processes are executed in line with current FEC minimum standards and ensuring controls and policy are adhered to and periodic MI reporting.
• Identifying arising regulatory risk in the operation, considering how it will be mitigated and flagging them to the operations while identifying and escalating suspicious activity reporting. Reviewing and analysing backgrounds of new customers to enable set up in global systems prior to requesting KYC processes.
• Managing team of KYC/QC analyst on a daily basis
• Management of SME resource including QA review activity and quality; designing adequate MI to ensure reporting can be extracted quickly and efficiently. Designing knowledge management processes (including SME guidance) to help the team to embed and stay up to date on client KYC/AML policy knowledge.
• Managing client relationships responsible for quality assurance, conducting root cause analysis of knowledge gaps within the operational resource and develop action plans, contribute to annual risk assessment process for sanctions in EMEA.
• Reviewing and constructively challenge internal operational processes to drive continuous improvement, engaging with senior stakeholders in the management of live incidence and emerging issues and managing periodic reporting requirements.
• Reviewing client trade history to ascertain live client status before reviews are undertaken and request closure of all non-trading clients across all relevant systems in line with BCD exit and Grid governance procedures.
• Arranging and liaising with the Customer Domain Units for periodic reviews to be carried out in accordance with Financial Economic Crime (FEC) policy, Managing the sub account approval process and downstream data set up and controls and organisational changes.
• Escalating incidents or conflicts to CB Compliance depending on the nature of incident and conflict, taking into account the roles and responsibilities as described in CB FEC policies and procedures.
• Arranging and coordinating EMIR classification in accordance with Bank policy, MiFID client classification support and problem solving for internal and external client’s e.g. opting up/down and general classification issues.
• Advising team members on current policy and process, managing exception reporting process and controls, as well as grid governance processes for the product segments delegated by COB.
• Liaising with PAM/LAM’s and gatekeepers to resolve disputes or to enable reviews to be conducted, Cross referencing unit (GXU): Entry and governance in support of Transaction Monitoring and Financial & Credit reporting.
• Acting as a primary point of contact for International wholesale sanctions and escalating as appropriate in conjunction with the sanctions teams to support sanctions compliance issues.
• Providing guidance and support on the implementation and interpretation of sanctions policies and standards and escalating the significant sanctions-related issues for customer relationship and transaction due diligence reviews.
• Acting in advisory capacity for Sanctions Risk Assessments, compliance monitoring, analysing and providing action plans for clients/products that present sanctions and related risks.

November 2014 – December 2015

Technology Company

KYC/AML consultant

Joined as a Business Process Consultant within Group Operations, reporting to the Service Delivery Manager, working within AML Change Delivery as a team of 6 Consultants, interfacing with globally disperse teams, supporting business critical projects.

Worked on a number of projects:

KYC/AML Remediation Project

• The aim of the project was to support on-going KYC/AML remediation, ensured all risks were identified and focused on managing and mitigating them appropriately.
• Led the design and roll out of an operative model across investment and corporate bank risk stakeholders and develop training guide for colleagues to up-skill them in project delivery.
• Supported team of consultants in research and analysis within specific technical field including research, collection, collation and analysis of business information.
• Coordinated reference data and payment screening process and provided guidance on investigations on sanctions alerts from transaction and reference data sanctions screening processes.
• Developed strategic client relationships, service skills and propositions on high profile works to tight timescales, reviewed and approved new wealth management clients.
• Enabled delivery of strategic KYC Platforms, supported and kept up to date with changes in regulatory regulations and guidelines according to FATCA, MiFID, EMIR Dodd-Frank.
• Reviewed files and Performed Quality Checks for on-boarding and remediation processes systems AML controls policies, complex Fraud and financial crime change projects.
• Developed, Reviewed and performed quality checks on Anti-money Laundering Investigations, Compliance, Transaction and Fraud Monitoring and providing comprehensive analysis and thorough documentation of associated findings.
• Worked with business, operations, and technology divisions to collect information relevant to potential sanctions concerns and provide sanctions-related advice to internal constituencies.

September 2014 – November 2014

Banking

Senior Due Diligence analyst

Lloyds Banking Group Provides wide variety of banking Services with offices Located in the United Kingdom.

Hired as a Senior Compliance Analyst within the Customer Due Diligence division, reporting to Head of Customer Due Diligence. Worked with an immediate diverse team of technical and non-technical members, interfacing across multiple divisions across the organisation.

The main projects worked on:

AML Client On-boarding due Diligence Project

• Planned and Implemented AML/CTF, Researched Regulations, reviewed and performed quality checks on corporate/wealth management clients and regulatory files.
• Kept the team abreast of regulatory changes, guided and monitored AML/CTF implementation changes by researching regulatory and filing information, and communicated guidelines.
• Prepared reports by collecting, analysing and summarising information and explained plans to relevant stakeholders.
• Verified compliance plans against established policies and procedures as well as applicable regulations.

June 2011– September 2014

Banking

Senior High-Risk review analyst

Hired as a Senior Risk Analyst within the High-Risk Review division, reporting to Head of Operational Risk Review Division. Worked with an immediate team of risk analyst across multiple divisions in the Group.

Project worked on:

• Dealt with Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs), reviewed corporate clients and completed risk assessment on them.
• Communicated with PEPs and corporate clients in RBS and making decisions according to information on RBS systems on whether to keep them as customers or exit them.
• Identified potential AML or risk concerns on clients’ files and applied appropriate investigation to eradicate concerns
• Requested clients’ information in line with agreed framework for ongoing reviews and Identified areas of improvement in completion of files.
• Completed high quality reviews on corporate clients and PEPS with clearly articulated decisions and supported team manager with resolution of complaints.
• Managed feedback from assurance process, ensuring it feeds into process improvement and supported team manager with managing new recruits through to full competence PEP review process.
• Prepared articulate documentation as required such as RRC briefs, letters and process notes.
• Worked with internal stakeholders (AML Operations, Group Compliance, and Retail Compliance) to ensure politically Exposed Persons and beneficial owners are identified and reviewed in line with regulation and internal policy requirements to protect the bank from AML and Sanctions risks.

January 2009– June 2011

Banking

AML Analyst

Hired as AML Analyst, reporting to Compliance Manager for the Projects. Responsible for supporting design and development of client solutions.

• Reviewed the end-to-end client on-boarding process, conducted simplified due diligence, customer due diligence and enhanced due diligence on corporate entities
• Obtained and maintained completion of KYC/KYB documents to meet bank guidelines in compliance with UK and global financial regulations
• Established case load of evidence for corporate entities/wealth management clients ranging from Limited Liability Companies, publicly listed companies (i.e. Regulated Market in an EEA state, equivalent and non-equivalent jurisdiction), Correspondence Banks, Trusts, Charities, Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV), Regulated and Unregulated Funds (including Hedge Funds). where beneficial owners and Politically Exposed Persons (PEP) are identified.
• Managed data integrity and maintained on-boarding and remediation for wealth management clients’ files and correspondence in compliance with AML and financial crime regulations.
• Reviewed and updated the classification of all applicable customers according to MiFID (Retail, Professional, Eligible counter-party or Elective Professional) in accordance with Client On-boarding Service Procedure.
• Completed and Updates MiFID documentation and ensuring that customers are notified of any changes to their classification and providing acknowledgement.
• Completed and Updated FATCA tax related classification and ensuring adequate reviews.
• Liaised with compliance on specific requirements and regulations arising under special circumstances.
• Reviewed and ensured all required AML /KYC regulatory requirements for existing clients were still in place.

References Available Upon Request

If you are interested in this candidate, please contact Charlie Watson via email cwatson@cerfinancial.co.uk or call on 0207 626 6065.

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