Head of Financial Crime  

The firm

HFW is a sector focused global law firm with 21 offices across 15 countries.  We have over 600 lawyers working across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia.  We take a progressive approach to our roles in commercial business – thinking creatively and pragmatically to support our clients.

Whether we are solving complex issues within the construction, aviation or shipping industries, or providing advice across insurance, commodities and energy we are specialist lawyers here to add value to our clients.  We think about the commercial solution first, and then underpin our advice with a solid foundation of legal expertise. 

The department

The Risk & Compliance team is made up of a Risk & Compliance Partner, a Head of Legal Risk (supported by five Risk Lawyers, two Senior Risk & Compliance Officers and two Solicitor Apprentices), a Head of Business Acceptance (supported by 2 Compliance Managers, who line manage 16 Risk & Compliance Officers and a Risk & Compliance Assistant), a Head of Conflicts (supported by two Conflicts Researchers), a Compliance Systems Manager, and an Information Governance Manager.  The team is represented in London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia and Dubai.

The Department works closely with the firm’s General Counsel who is also the COLP and MLRO, as well as the Firm’s PI Partner and others specialising in areas such as sanctions and data protection.

The role

The departure of the current Head of Business Acceptance provides an opportunity to reshape and strengthen the financial crime function within the Risk & Compliance team. This newly created senior leadership role will report directly to the Risk & Compliance Partner and will be responsible for setting and delivering the firm’s financial crime strategy across HFW’s global office network. The Head of Financial Crime will serve as the firm’s deputy MLRO and principal in-house specialist on anti-money laundering (“AML”), sanctions, anti-bribery and corruption, fraud prevention and wider financial crime compliance, working closely with the General Counsel/Global MLRO, Regional MLROs, the Risk & Compliance Partner and Partners across the firm.

The role will assume direct line-management responsibility for the firm’s Compliance Managers, Risk & Compliance Officers and Sanctions Lawyer. It will provide clear leadership and direction on KYC/client due diligence, sanctions and wider financial crime matters, driving consistency, quality and efficiency across the firm’s offices.

Key responsibilities

• Acting as the firm’s senior specialist and principal point of escalation on AML, sanctions, anti-bribery and corruption, fraud and wider financial crime risk across all of the firm’s offices;
• Setting and driving the firm’s global financial crime strategy, aligned with the firm’s risk appetite and the expectations of the SRA, and equivalent regulators in the firm’s other jurisdictions;
• Providing leadership, direction and day-to-day line management to the firm’s Compliance Managers and 16 Risk & Compliance Officers in London, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia, together with a Sanctions Lawyer, with responsibility for KYC/client due diligence, sanctions and the wider financial crime aspects of onboarding;
• Acting as the senior decision-maker on high-risk client and matter escalations, complex source of funds and source of wealth enquiries, sanctions exposure and other elevated financial crime issues referred by the firm’s offices;
• Leading the development, drafting and periodic review of the firm’s financial crime, policies, procedures and controls, ensuring they remain effective and fit for purpose across all jurisdictions in which the firm operates;
• Monitoring legal and regulatory developments relevant to financial crime, including sanctions regimes, across the firm’s jurisdictions and advising the Risk & Compliance Partner and General Counsel/Global MLRO on their implications for the firm;
• Supporting the General Counsel/Global MLRO and regional MLROs in relation to suspicious activity reporting obligations and the firm’s wider AML governance framework;
• Leading the firm’s engagement with regulators and other authorities on financial crime matters, including supporting regulatory audits, inspections and information requests;
• Designing and reporting management information and key performance indicators relating to financial crime risk, onboarding turnaround times and the quality of client due diligence to the Risk & Compliance Partner and firm management;
• Identifying and championing improvements to onboarding systems, screening tools and other compliance technology to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the firm’s financial crime controls;
• Designing and delivering firmwide financial crime training and awareness programmes for Partners, fee earners and business services staff;

Qualifications & skills:

• At least 10 years’ experience in financial crime, AML and sanctions gained within a leading law firm, financial institution or professional services environment;
• Detailed knowledge of UK financial crime and AML legislation (including the Money
  Laundering Regulations, POCA and the Bribery Act) together with a working understanding of
  international regulatory regimes relevant to the firm’s global office network;
• Proven experience leading, developing and managing a compliance or financial crime team,
  ideally across multiple jurisdictions or offices;
• Experience designing and implementing financial crime policies, controls and governance
  frameworks within a regulated business;
• Strong commercial judgment, with the ability to balance robust risk management against the
  practical, commercial needs of a busy international law firm;
• Excellent stakeholder management, influencing and communication skills, with the credibility
  to engage confidently with Partners and senior management;
• Sound, decisive judgement on complex and sensitive financial crime issues, with high levels of
  discretion, confidentiality and diplomacy;
• Experience of onboarding systems, screening tools, compliance technology and process
  improvement initiatives is advantageous; and
• Flexibility to travel to offices within the firm’s global network as required.

Join our team

If you’re passionate about financial crime compliance, risk mitigation, and shaping the future of legal services, we invite you to apply for this critical leadership role.

Additional information

Additional information

Kindly note that this job description is not contractual. It will be reviewed periodically and may be amended or altered to meet the needs of the firm.

HFW aims to ensure equality of opportunity and we are actively working towards improving the diversity of our staff. All applications will be considered only on merit and the applicant’s suitability to meet the requirements of the role.

HFW collects and processes personal data relating to job applicants to manage its recruitment process. The firm is committed to being transparent about how it collects and uses that data and to meeting its data protection obligations. For information on how the firm will process your data, please see our Privacy Notice, in the section “What we collect and how we use it”.