Hear from subject-matter experts ready to share a wealth of knowledge and thought-leadership, helping you protect your financial institution from criminals.
Dr Marcus Pleyer
President, Financial Action Task Force (FATF)
Discussion Leaders
Dr. Marcus Pleyer serves as Deputy Director General in Germany’s Federal Ministry of Finance with responsibilities for policy development and international engagement pertaining International Financial Markets (including FSB, G7, G20 matters), Anti- Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing (AML/CFT), Financial Sanctions Policy, Digital Finance including Payment Services and Cyber Security and national and international development banks. As representative of the Federal Republic, he is currently a member of the board of governors of the Development Bank for Agribusiness and of the Foundation for Financing the Disposal of Nuclear Waste. He is regularly invited as an expert on AML/CFT and took part in a number of international AML/CFT-missions. Before he assumed the position of President on 1 July 2020, he served as Vice-President of the FATF (July 2019–June 2020), and as the Head of the German delegation (2016–July 2019). Dr. Pleyer has also been serving in the Steering Committee of that same organisation since 2016.
Prior to his current position, Dr. Pleyer headed the Division for International Financial Markets from 2014 to 2015. From 2011 to 2014, he served as Head of Cabinet of Federal Finance Minister Schaeuble. From 2006 to 2011, he worked in the Federal Chancellery as senior adviser for Economic Law, International Financial Markets, Eurozone and G8/G20-Affairs and was part of a special team of Chancellor Merkel for the stabilization of the financial sector in 2009. Prior to that, he held positions as adviser in the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) after he had worked as a researcher in the field of public and capital markets law at the University of Dresden and as lecturer in criminal law at the University of Heidelberg.
With support of the German Academic Scholarship Foundation, Marcus studied law at the National University of Singapore and the University of Heidelberg from which he graduated in law in 1995 before he qualified for the position of a judge in 1997. He holds a Master of Laws degree from the University of Edinburgh, a Master of Business Administration from the University of Wales and a Ph.D. from the University of Dresden. He has also passed the admission exam as a stockbroker.
Abdallah Alomari is an Intelligence Analyst at FS-ISAC’s Global Intelligence Office. Before joining FS-ISAC, Alomari worked as KYC specialist at Credit Agricole, an Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) analyst at Thomson Reuters, Manager of professional services at the Red Flag Group, EDD analyst at Steele Compliance Solutions, and research assistant at University Putra Malaysia. He holds a bachelor’s degree in information technology from the University of Jordan and a master’s degree in geographical information systems from University Putra Malaysia. Abdallah is a Certified Cyber Intelligence Investigator (CCII), Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), CREST Practitioner Threat Intelligence Analyst (CPTIA), and Certified Cryptocurrency Investigator (CCI).
Brian Hsu is the Head of Due Diligence at the BNP Paribas Taiwan branch, leading a team of local and offshore KYC analysts to conduct customer due diligence for corporate and institutional clients throughout the relationship life cycle. He was previously a Production Quality Control analyst at HSBC Taiwan, where he was nominated as the subject matter expert for the due diligence team in Taiwan to provide policy guidance to the front and middle office. He also became a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) during his time at HSBC. Prior to joining HSBC, he was a sales support under the Financial Institution team at Standard Chartered Taiwan.
Brian holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, International Relations Division, from National Taiwan University and graduated with honors. He interned at Assemblyman Lentol’s office, the chair of Codes Committee, at New York State Assembly during his time as an exchange student to SUNY Albany.
Catherine is an integrity due diligence analyst and a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS). Since 2015, she has been managing the integrity-related work as well as leading the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism (AML-CFT) initiatives of the ADB’s Trade and Supply Chain Finance Program. Prior to this, Catherine worked as an economic analyst for ADB’s Asia Regional Integration Center specializing in trade and investment. She has co-authored a number of short publications on topics around trade and regional integration and AML-CFT issues in trade.
Effa has over 16 years of working experience in Internal Audit, Fraud, Risk, Security & Project Management from Government Link Companies and Startups based in Malaysia. Effa was the pioneer Regional Internal Auditor & Fraud Investigator of Grab for South East Asia.
She started her career in 2007 as a Capital Market Graduate Trainee of Securities Commission Malaysia before venturing into Fraud Management in Banking (Maybank), Telco (Celcom Axiata ) and Startups (Grab, Billplz and Setel). A Master Degree holder in Forensic Accounting & Financial Criminology, a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and a SIRIM Certified Lead Assessor for ISO9001 Quality Management System.
She is currently pursuing her Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) with the ultimate goals in bridging the gaps between the industry and academia. She is passionate about creating and adding value to the world. Her strengths lie in managing and improving internal controls and developing fraud detection intelligence. She is dedicated to enforcing corrective internal controls, providing training, and raising awareness about maintaining high integrity in all aspects of life.
Lee joined HSBC in the UK in 1997 and has since held several IT roles in the UK, Brazil, India and Hong Kong. Lee has been based in Hong Kong since June 2010 where his most recent role has been as the Head of Financial Crime Risk IT for Asia Pacific, the largest and most important region for HSBC Group. In this role, Lee was responsible for rolling out the compliance systems that helped HSBC meet its Deferred Prosecution Agreement commitments. Lee was also appointed as the Global Head of Anti-Money Laundering Technology for HSBC at the beginning of January 2018, in addition to his regional role.
Mark is an Assistant Vice President at MUFG Bank, where his coverage include Financial Crime Compliance related Outsourcing, Issue Management, MI Reporting, AML investigations and Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) filling etc. He is competent in both internal and external stakeholder management, risk assessment and control, as well as crisis management.
Mark holds a Bachelor of Business Administration (Hons) in Banking and Finance. He is a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS), Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), Certified Cryptocurrency Investigator (CCI), Associate Anti-Money Laundering Professional (AAMLP), as well as other certificates accredited by the International Compliance Association (ICA).
Neeraj Bansal is a management consultant focusing on providing strategy consulting. He is from Fintech and ecosystem team evaluating and aligning possible partners who are in line with the roadmap of bank focusing on digital and regtech solutions. This includes identification of the problem statement, market research, curation of matched fintech, conducting POCs, and stakeholder management . Prior to this, he had been focusing on providing solutions and assurance related to AML risk and compliance management for over a decade.
Kumar Saurav heads the risk management function at Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance and is responsible for leading the Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) initiative. The most crucial part of the role is to assess and mitigate significant competitive, regulatory and technological threats which the company gets exposed to. He also oversees and provides assurance to the Board and Management on company’s exposure to Key Risk Indicators. Saurav does extensive work on creating framework for Fraud Risk Management and ERM ensuring it is aligned to Committee of Sponsoring Organization (COSO) standard and Cyber Risk Framework adhering to the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
The role also mandates interaction with Risk Committee of the Board; setting up Risk Management Framework and collaborating with regulators. Saurav is a key member of the company governance council, including disciplinary panel, claim committee, and policy holder protection committee. The role ensures the organisation operates more effectively to make more informed decisions by taking calculated risks.
Sharon has over 13 years of experience in banking and finance throughout Asia, with an extensive background in AML, Compliance, securities dealing and Quality Assurance. She has been with ANZ Banking Group for 8 years now, collaborating with a network of In-Country Compliance Officers across Asia Pacific, Europe and America Regions to ensure compliance with the legislative requirements and effective escalation of AML/CTF reports and cases. Over the years, Sharon has held several positions within ANZ — such as AML Operations Manager of Financial Crime Threat Management – Manila, Country Head of Financial Crime & MLRO both in the Philippines and Cambodia, and Financial Crime advisory counsel for Indonesia and China. Sharon’s prolific career with ANZ continues as the current Hong Kong Head of Financial Crime and MLRO. She graduated with a degree in Consular and Diplomatic Affairs and finished a specialised course for International Development Studies.
Sheetal Bhardwaj is a seasoned Risk & Compliance professional with over 19 years of hands-on experience managing successful Compliance Programs in the MENAT region. She is presently working with one of the largest banks in the New Zealand.
She was an approved Compliance Officer & MLRO by the Central Bank of the UAE and Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA). As a Subject-Matter Expert, she has served in leadership roles covering various aspects of Regulatory Compliance & Financial Crime Risk, including regulatory audits & thematic reviews. She is an Executive Board Member and Communication Director of ACFCS (Association of Certified Financial Crime Specialists, US), MENA Chapter.
She is an MBA in Finance & a mathematical science graduate in statistics from the University of Delhi. She is a Certified Anti Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS), Certified Global Sanctions Specialist (CGSS), Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), Certified Compliance Officer (CCO), along with certifications in Compliance & AML from CISI, UK & ICA Manchester Business School, Henley Business School.
Sheetal is a well-known speaker and has delivered several speaking & training assignments in various forums, including at the University of Bradford and the University of Dubai.
She has also volunteered in the Government of India initiative, “Mentor of Change,” to educate children in rural areas of India.
An internationally recognized financial services expert, Soon Kit offers deep and wide experience accumulated over 15 years in the financial services sector. Bringing a global perspective enriched with grounded experience, he was Enterprise Resilience Officer at BNY Mellon assuring the firm broad business and operational resilience across multiple lines of business.
Prior to this, he was Risk Vice President of Fullerton Fund Management and Wolters Kluwer’s Asia-Pacific Risk Practice Director guiding regional risk and financial practices for its software clients. At OCBC Bank Group, Soon Kit was managing the risk of Global Treasury, Investment Banking, OCBC Securities and Bank of Singapore. He complements his expertise with international advisory experience garnered at financial software firm Misys / Finastra where he led the risk management teams to solve broader subjects of banking risk with financial firms, banks, regulators in Europe and Asia. Prior to this, Soon Kit provided consulting at Moody’s Analytics.
Recognized for his practical expertise by regional banking conferences and professional media, Soon Kit has contributed many live and case interviews to breaking news developments and industry best practice conferences.
Graduating with honors in Quantitative Finance from the National University of Singapore, he is also a certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist and an Energy Risk Professional.
