Osama Zeineh is a seasoned expert with over 25 years of experience across the three lines of defense in the banking and financial services industry, spanning the Middle East and Australia. He holds a Master’s degree in Applied Finance from the University of Melbourne and has earned numerous professional certifications, including Certified Internal Auditor, Certified Fraud Examiner, and Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist. Recently, Osama completed advanced strategic innovation and AI programs at the University of Oxford, focusing on leveraging innovation and transformation to combat financial crime.

In his most recent role as General Manager, Financial Crime Detection and Innovation at National Australia Bank (NAB), Osama co-led a large-scale financial crime compliance transformation program. He pioneered NAB’s human-centered financial crime strategy and founded its first Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). Under his leadership, NAB developed its first predictive machine learning models for financial crime and launched financial crime innovation team that created groundbreaking behavioral deep neural networks, autonomously analyzing billions of customers records and transactions.

Before NAB, Osama held senior leadership roles, including Group Head of Compliance and MLRO for major banks in the Middle East. He was instrumental in establishing the first independent regulatory compliance function at what is now the largest bank in the Middle East of assets worth $500 billion. He led multi-jurisdictional investigations across the Middle East and Europe, addressing complex cases involving terrorism financing, money laundering, corruption, and fraud.

Osama is renowned for managing high-performing, diverse teams across regulatory strategy, compliance, risk management, financial crime, internal controls, and innovative technologies. His leadership and expertise have been pivotal in driving transformative change and safeguarding institutions against emerging financial crime threats.