Senior practitioners from global banking, compliance leadership, financial intelligence technology and law enforcement
Kompass is led by partners and senior management who have spent their careers in global banking, the compliance leadership of financial institutions, financial intelligence and data, and law enforcement, across the GCC, Asia, Europe, Africa and North America, supported by a team of industry experts. Every engagement is led personally by a partner, from scoping to the final report.
Every vantage point on financial crime
Our team has seen financial crime from the global bank, the chief compliance officer's chair, the boardroom of a regulated business, the national intelligence unit and the investigator's desk. That combination shapes advice that is both rigorous and practical.
Global banking
Careers at global and GCC banks across eight countries, in financial crime compliance, corporate, correspondent and trade banking: the global liaison with law enforcement, the regional leadership of financial crime across the Middle East and North Africa, and regional compliance risk assessment with fraud and AML analytics across the Middle East, North Africa and Türkiye.
The chief compliance officer's chair
Chief compliance officer of a listed GCC bank and member of its board risk and compliance committee, responsible for financial crime, sanctions, regulatory compliance, conduct, consumer protection and whistleblowing, leading a compliance organisation of some 150 people onshore and offshore.
Regulated business and advisory
Head of non financial risk and risk officer of a regulated trade finance business, reporting to the board risk committee; founder of the Gulf office of an international risk advisory firm; and non-executive director of a bank under formation in Europe and the UAE.
National financial intelligence
Designed the analytical framework of a national financial intelligence unit, and built the systems and databases used to analyze financial intelligence.
Law enforcement
Lead investigator in a national serious economic offences unit, building complex financial crime cases to an evidential standard.
Work that has stood up to supervisors, monitors, auditors and boards
A selection of the engagements and roles our team has led. Institutions are not named; references are available on request.
- Regulatory appointmentServed a GCC regulator as Skilled Person and as Monitor on financial crime remediation at supervised institutions.
- Monitorship concludedAs chief compliance officer, managed a two-year monitorship imposed by a GCC regulator on a listed bank through to its successful conclusion, while keeping the confidence of the regulator, law enforcement and the board.
- Bank-wide transformationLed a financial crime transformation programme across a bank: governance, board reporting, monitoring and screening systems, risk scoring, customer due diligence remediation, offshoring and regulatory reporting.
- Remediation to closureRemediated eight AML and CFT regulatory findings at the Gulf branch of an international bank, through to acceptance by the supervisor.
- Standard settingLed the drafting of new fraud standards with GCC regulators, translating supervisory intent into requirements institutions can operate.
- Analytics at scaleLed fraud and AML analytics for a global bank across a multi country region, and direct work on transaction monitoring, screening, fraud detection and AI models.
- Public and private partnershipLed a global bank's engagement with law enforcement, non-governmental organisations and financial crime vendors, and its participation in public private partnerships against financial crime.
- Building a functionLed the heads of financial crime across six countries in the Middle East and North Africa and helped establish the compliance function of a global bank's new Saudi Arabian subsidiary.
- Board accountabilityCarried personal accountability for non financial risk at a regulated business and for compliance at a listed bank, reporting to board risk and compliance committees.
- Building the toolsetDeveloped analytical systems and databases for a national financial intelligence unit, and the detection rules and risk models used by banks.
- Running the businessLed corporate banking in Qatar through the 2008 crisis, multinational banking in India, correspondent banking in Hong Kong and trade services in New York, so compliance advice is grounded in how banks actually make money.
Professionally certified, technically fluent
Partners and senior management hold Certified Fraud Examiner and Chartered Financial Analyst credentials, postgraduate degrees in data science and international relations, specialist certifications in anti-money laundering, cryptoasset compliance, financial crime prevention and digital compliance, and advanced programming credentials.
- CFECertified Fraud Examiner
- CFAChartered Financial Analyst
- CAMSCertified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist, ACAMS
- CCASCertified Cryptoasset Specialist, ACAMS
- ICAInternational Compliance Association, Diploma in Financial Crime Prevention and Digital Compliance
- MScWeb Science and Big Data
- MScInternational Relations with Arabic
- Board directorFinancial Times Non-Executive Director programme
- MBCSMember of the British Computer Society
- SASCertified Advanced Programming for SAS 9.4
- ArabicProfessional competency, for work with regional institutions and regulators
- Industry expertsA supporting team drawn from compliance, fraud, data and technology