Team Category: Regulation & Compliance

Steven is a Compliance & KYC/AML Subject Matter Expert with over 15 years of project management experience in Investment, Corporate and Private Banking. An accomplished business & data analyst with a consistent track record in process and systems improvement. Steven has worked on complex compliance remediation projects, client on-boarding and new system integration with CRM, managing teams and stakeholders through project life-cycles.

From 2015, Steven moved into consultancy work for small and medium sized enterprises. He has focussed on strengthening 3 Lines of Defence for his clients, addressing compliance issues and staff training on AML/KYC.

Recent work has included acting as Interim Head of Compliance for a trade finance bank and managing a KYC remediation project for a Corporate Banking function.

Steven has previously worked for HSBC, JPMorgan, UBS and UniCredit.

Ravi is a hybrid business analyst and project manager with over 10 years’ experience delivering on regulatory, compliance, assurance, and transformation projects.

Ravi works with stakeholders in Operations, Risk, Compliance, Finance and Technology. Ravi is a qualified accountant with a solid background in the ‘3 lines of defence’. He advises clients on how to design processes with effective controls to become and remain compliant.

Recent projects have focused on working with banking and FMCG clients to map their current and future processes, conduct impact assessments, identify areas of improvement, TOM design, gather requirements and manage the design, build, test and implementation stages of their projects. Ravi builds strong relationships with his stakeholders by constantly being available to listen and act on their feedback and suggestions.

Ravi is adaptable and works equally well in a Waterfall or Agile environment, having completed the requisite courses.

His past clients include Lloyds Banking Group, HSBC, Coutts, RBS, and Unilever.

Charles is an experienced Compliance, Regulatory Risk and internal controls practitioner with over 25 years’ experience in the City. He has held many senior positions within Compliance at UK and European Tier 1 retail and investment banks. His roles included Head of Trade Surveillance and Monitoring as well as Desk Reviews (similar to Internal Audit) within Central Compliance where he provided detailed reports to senior management.

From 2014, Charles moved into regulatory risk implementation and advisory, using his extensive knowledge at a number of global organisations covering SM&CR, GDPR, MiFID II and Conduct Risk. Charles’ is a go-to consultant for Risk Framework design & documentation and has become a trusted advisor across both first and second line of defence functions.

He supported an SM&CR implementation project at a major stockbroker with a focus on the governance, accountability and cultural measures to ensure compliance with the important SMCR “no gaps” principle. This overview helped to define a methodology and process for assigning the correct responsibilities for the respective Senior Managers and Certified staff. Prior to this he was responsible for implementation of GDPR and MiFID II at the stockbroker and documentation of the entire Conduct Risk assessment and framework at a large European investment bank.

In his recent role he initiated and managed a Data Governance Project for a large European investment bank.

Charles has worked for BGC Partners, Barclays, Deutsche, HSBC, BNP Paribas and Societe Generale.

Julie Sefton is a professionally qualified KYC and AML Practitioner, holding the ICA Diploma in AML. She is a Member of the ICA (MICA), since 2014, having now gained over 20 years’ experience working in Financial Services at Consulting firms, Investment Banks, Hedge Funds and Brokerage Houses, in the City of London.

Julie specialises in KYC and AML Training, is a Financial Crime Manager, Policy and Key Operations SME, Business Analyst, and has been involved in Regulatory Change Management projects, Section 166 Remediation, and implementation for Client Lifecycle Management.

Her clients have included: Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Commerzbank, Nomura, National Bank of Egypt, and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Projects were delivered for KYC/AML training in the UK, Europe and Asia for Tier 1 and 2 Banks.

Julie led a team of 150 KYC Analysts in 3 locations for HCL in 2011 to 2013 as a Policy SME and for QA training for a Tier 1 Bank. Over the last 8 years, she has enjoyed training some very talented young people in the UK, India, and Europe, that have forged successful careers in the field of KYC and AML.

She has recently written a new course for KYC Analysts, and communicates the practical and theoretical aspects together, encompassing a holistic approach, whilst considering the advances in technology. She believes that whilst technology such as Digital ID can help to speed up the process for KYC, it is only a small part of the process, and the analyst must still act as the gatekeeper, absorbing all of the data, documents and the public profile of the client in order to make a holistic assessment of risk, and enable the correct management and mitigation of risk, in order to protect the capital of the obliged entity.

Julie is up to date on the latest developments in Financial Crime Prevention, and is a member of: the ICA, IMLPO, MLRO’s.com, KYC360, Themis, Global Witness, and Transparency International. She is a member of AML and KYC Leaders, and regularly publishes her latest insights and thought leadership in financial media.