If you are interested in this candidate, please contact Charlie Watson via email cwatson@cerfinancial.co.uk or call on 0207 626 6065.
00203300
PROFILE:
Senior Compliance and Financial Crime leader with extensive experience across multinational financial institutions in investment, retail, wholesale, international trade, and payment services. Proven experience advising senior management, audit committees, and boards on compliance framework effectiveness, financial crime risk, regulatory change, investigations and governance. Recognised for strengthening control environments, improving audit outcomes, enhancing financial crime defences, and building high-performing teams in complex, internationally regulated environments.
SKILLS:
- Financial crime risk assessments and residual risk mitigation.
- Compliance framework design, review, and enhancement.
- Policy and procedure drafting and maintenance.
- FCA, NCA, GDPR, and regulatory change management.
- Audit management and regulatory assurance.
- SCV review and regulatory submission.
- Sanctions, PEP, and adverse media escalation.
- CDD, EDD, and high-risk customer oversight.
- FCA and NCA reporting.
- Board and committee reporting.
- Financial crime automation and process improvement.
- Staff leadership, coaching, and performance management.
- Customer data protection and GDPR oversight
- Strong knowledge of JMLSG, FCA Handbook (PROD, COBS, SYSC, SUP, and SM&CR, etc), FATF Recommendations, Wolfsberg Group, MiFID, AIFMD, GDPR.EU/UK, Money Laundering Regulations, The Bribery Act, The Proceeds of Crime Act, PSD2, Payment Services Regulations and Electronic Money Regulations, EMEA regulations, and OFSI, OFAC, and EU Sanctions regimes.
CAREER HISTORY:
September 2020 - Present
International Corporate Bank
Senior Compliance and Financial Crime Officer
- Led financial crime risk assessments across multiple business lines and jurisdictions, advising on residual risk and implementing proportionate mitigations that strengthened the firm’s control environment.
- Directing the drafting, review, and maintenance of compliance and financial crime policies and procedures ensuring alignment with FCA, NCA, GDPR, and other regulatory notices and guidance.
- Managing compliance audit activity and assurance reviews (CASS, CMP and AML), delivering a strong control record with no material regulatory findings from auditors.
- Oversight of SCV review and submission processes, ensuring all deadlines are met, data accuracy is maintained, and there is no regulatory failing
- Strengthening financial crime controls to significantly reduce the bank’s exposure to misuse by criminals.
- Keeping the business informed of regulatory developments and their impact, enabling timely implementation of required changes (Consumer Duty, Non-Financial Crime Misconduct and SMCR).
- Lead and develop compliance teams of four, improving staff performance, accountability, and the wider compliance culture.
- Governed GDPR compliance activity to improve protection of customer data and ensure information is used for intended and lawful purposes.
- Advising senior management, audit committees, and the board through high-quality MI and reporting, supporting effective oversight of the compliance framework.
- Oversight of due diligence escalation across sanctions, PEP, and adverse media risk.
- Managing FCA and NCA reporting within required deadlines and responding to regulatory requests for information in a timely and accurate manner.
- Directing sanctions and PEP risk management for a bank with a high volume of high-risk customers, improving screening, escalation, and oversight.
- Partnering with operations and technology teams to enhance transaction monitoring controls, improving alert quality and strengthening financial crime detection capability across banking operations.
- Lead and manage the MLRO and wider Compliance department and ensure it has the appropriate resources to carry out its work.
February 2020 - May 2020
International Bank
Senior Compliance Officer
- Led compliance and financial crime oversight across regulated business areas, ensuring risk-based governance and effective control monitoring.
- Contributed to policy refresh, audit readiness, financial crime monitoring, and senior stakeholder reporting.
- Led regulatory compliance projects spanning the Payment Services Regulations 2017, including customer complaints procedures and confirmation of payee implementation requirements under the Payment Systems Regulator’s Specific Direction 17.
- Assessed compliance with the UK Deposit Guarantee Scheme and PRA depositor protection rules, and reviewed customer documentation to ensure accurate FSCS protection disclosures
September 2016 - February 2020
Tier 1 Corporate Bank
Compliance Officer
- Managed compliance audit activity and remediation tracking, delivering strong assurance outcomes with no material regulatory findings and improved control ownership across teams.
- Oversaw SCV review, validation, and submission within required deadlines, maintaining accurate reporting standards and a clean record of no regulatory failings.
- Monitored sanctions, PEP, and adverse media screening escalation, improving the quality and timeliness of due diligence decisions for high-risk customers and counterparties.
- Led financial crime risk assessments across multiple business lines, identifying residual risks and implementing proportionate mitigations that strengthened control effectiveness and reduced the bank’s exposure to misuse by criminals.
- Prepared compliance MI, committee papers, and senior management updates, keeping the audit committee and board engaged with key risks, regulatory developments, and control performance.
- Supported financial crime automation and process improvement initiatives, increasing operational efficiency, reducing manual intervention, and helping the business meet FCA expectations for effective financial crime management.
- Led the structuring and negotiation of high value SaaS agreements and master service arrangements with major financial institutions and key technology suppliers, ensuring commercially robust terms, regulatory compliance, and effective risk allocation.
September 2009 - May 2016
Insolvency Services
Legal and Compliance Officer
May 2005 - April 2009
Government Office
Legal and Compliance Officer
October 2000 - May 2005
Solicitors
Legal and Compliance Officer
EDUCATION:
- ICA: International Diploma in AML- Merit
- ICA: Financial Crime Prevention- Distinction
- ACFE: Certified Fraud Examiner
- UCL: LLM in Banking and Finance Law
- College of Law: Legal Practice Course
- Sussex University: LLB (Hon) Law
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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