This candidate is a seasoned Risk & Compliance professional with a background in legal studies and 13 years of experience within law firm compliance roles. They are currently the head of Risk and Compliance for a mid-town law firm that specialises in conveyancing and private client work; wherein they lead a centralised compliance team of 6 to assess risk, determine client eligibilities and implement policies to meet organisational and regulatory compliance standards. 

Experience

HEAD OF RISK & COMPLIANCE | MID-TOWN LAW FIRM | 2021

Day-to-day responsibility for all regulatory, risk and compliance matters for the firms, supporting the Senior Managing Partner, Partners, Compliance Officer for Legal Practice (COLP), Compliance Officer for Finance and Administration (COFA) and Chief Operating Officer (COO) in their roles.
Responsibilities include but are not limited to;

Compliance Policies and Procedures:

• Review and update policies on a regular basis ensuring compliance with all regulatory and legislative requirements

Conflicts and Anti-Money Laundering:

• Lead a central team of CDD Analysts to advise on conflicts of interest, identification of clients and their source of funds/wealth prior to accepting new business.
• Review high-risk risk-assessments
• Manage all third-party onboarding providers (Thirdfort, Accuity, LexisNexis)
• Advise non-routine AML queries
• Support MLRO, COLP and Partners with escalations and SAR reporting requirements.
• Establish a good relationship with the SRA and assist with their enquiries as required. Passed both AML inspections.

File and Case Management:

• Coordinate file reviews
• Update internal procedures
• Staff training on procedures

Data Protection:

• Assist the DPO to ensure compliance with data protection legislation

Conveyancing Quality Scheme and Mortgage Panels:

• Coordination of annual CQS renewal process

Risk & Compliance Training:

• Delivering training (at all levels) on all core risk & compliance issues to include:
  - AML & Sanctions
  - Conflict Searches
  - File and Case Management
  - Keep track of new SRA developments for compliance training and implementation e.g. conduct and culture

Risk Management:

• Maintenance of the firm's risk registers
• Liaison with all regulatory bodies
• Advising partners and the senior management team on risk management best practice
• Annual Professional Indemnity Insurance renewals

PARENTAL LEAVE | 2020 - 2021

REGIONAL COMPLIANCE MANAGER | INTERNATIONAL LAW FIRM | 2018

• Day-to-day management of a team of Compliance Analysts, workflow allocation, projects, escalations, policy, process efficiencies and embedding a compliance culture across the Europe region.
• Responsible for strengthening the team structure and handling jurisdiction-specific compliance and regulatory requirements. Whilst my key responsibilities were to support the London, Ireland, Jersey and Guernsey offices, I also contributed to the development of other regions, Americas (Cayman, BVI and Bermuda), Asia (HK & Singapore) and ME (Dubai).
• Provided support to team members on CDD, escalations, sanctions issues and related enquiries.
• Prepared and delivered training to the compliance team, legal teams, MLROs and business support functions.
• Managed the preparation of regulatory inspections and submissions. Handled enquiries and inspections from the JFSC, GFSC, TISE, ISE, DOJ, CIMA, Law Society of Singapore, and DIFC.
• Provided lawyers and other staff with day-to-day compliance expertise and support, to ensure that the on-boarding procedures for all clients and matters were adequately met from a Compliance perspective.
• Assisted with the development and implementation of appropriate AML/CTF policies, procedures and related documentation.

COMPLIANCE MANAGER | INTERNATIONAL LAW FIRM | 2013 - 2018

• Day-to-day management of the Business Acceptance team in London, Hong Kong and Sweden, supervising the training of new team members and process and system enhancements.
• Provided assistance and guidance to the team, internal clients and stakeholders on issues arising out of client and matter inception (AML, Sanctions and Fraud) as well as regulatory and compliance matters.
• Created training manuals and ensured they were appropriately updated and circulated.
• Kept up to date with and provided proactive guidance to the team and internal clients on the firm's relevant policies and procedures.
• Gathered and presented management information to the Head of Risk.
• Assisted with the rollout of new initiatives and technological advances scoped by the Head of Risk to meet regulatory changes.
• Travelled to overseas offices to provide training, development and support to Partners and support staff.
• Worked closely with managers in other support departments such as Accounts, MBD, Financial Systems and IT on joint projects or common issues. Presented new developments as required.

COMPLIANCE OFFICER INTERNATIONAL LAW FIRM 2012 - 2013

• Handled conflict checks and CDD for the firm through a centralised inbox.
• Conducted conflict searches using the firm's conflict database and reviews results.
• Liaised directly with lawyers on identified potential legal or commercial conflicts, obtaining relevant information on matters, in order to determine whether a conflict was present.
• Escalated legal/commercial conflicts to the Compliance Manager, Head of Business Acceptance and Risk Lawyers.
• Identified clients using data provider software and other online sources. Established the corporate structure of the client where relevant and identified beneficial ownership.
• Escalated high-risk matters to the MLRO when required to comply with the firm's AML and Sanctions requirements.
• Ensured client matter risk assessments were performed accurately and files were updated in a timely manner.
• Advised secretaries, fee earners and partners on best practices in relation to client matter opening procedures.
• Carried out ad hoc tasks and projects to implement and develop risk-led initiatives.
• Provided face-to-face training on the firm's relevant policies and procedures to new joiners.

SENIOR CONFLICTS ASSISTANT | GLOBAL LAW FIRM | 2011-2012

• Supervised a small team of conflicts assistants to handle the firm's legal and commercial conflicts of interest. Acted as the mainpoint of contact for the Middle East, Asia and South Pacific partners.
• Assisted with the review of client and matter intake forms
• Conducted conflict searches for new client matters using the firm's Global Conflicts Database and reviewed results.
• Advised lawyers on potential legal or commercial conflicts, obtaining relevant information on the matters, in order to determine whether there was a conflict of interest.
• Contacted lawyers in respect of commercially sensitive and confidential matters.
• Conducted conflict searches for Pitches, Pro Bono matters and preliminary queries across the International Firm.
• Escalated identified conflicts to the General Counsel to clear.
• User of in-house databases such as CMA, Elite and Blue Box (database of all Client Relationships within the firm)
• Sought approval from Group Heads for sanctioned and high-risk matters.

Education

Professional Postgraduate Diploma in Governance | 2022
Advanced Certificate in Practical Customer Due Diligence | Distinction | 2019
Diploma in AML | Merit | 2018
Specialist Certificate in Managing Sanctions Risk | Distinction | 2016
Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice | 2011
Bachelor of Law University | 2:1| 2008