BrazilFTI recruits compliance expert Rod Francis to forensics team in Hong Kong
FTI Consulting has recruited credentialed risk and compliance expert Rod Francis to its forensics and litigation team in Hong Kong, where as a Senior Managing Director he will lead FTI’s newly created Financial Crime Compliance offering in Asia.
Until recently serving as the Asia Pacific Regional Head of Anti-Money Laundering Compliance for Citibank, financial compliance veteran Rod Francis has been recruited by FTI Consulting to lead its new Financial Crime Compliance line in Asia, with Francis to be based out of Hong Kong as a Senior Managing Director. There he joins Sandeep Jadav, who was among others elevated as a Senior Managing Director in FTI’s local Forensics and Litigation team at the start of the year.
Prior to his more than eight years with Citibank, also based in Hong Kong, Francis was for three and a half years an executive director with UBS in Hong Kong, for periods heading up the Swiss investment bank’s APAC functions in Central Compliance and in Anti-Money Laundering and Sanctions Compliance, while also serving as its Global Head of Regulatory Reporting. Altogether, Francis has amassed 25 years of experience in risk related roles with major financial institutions.
In addition to Citibank and UBS in Asia, Francis was until 2000 a Vice President, Regulatory and Data Control for Bank of America Merril Lynch in London, before switching to Stanley Morgan as a Senior Vice President and EMEA regional head of Anti-money Laundering and Operations Compliance for the following three and a half years. From there, the highly credentialed risk expert joined Credit Suisse as a compliance and anti-laundering executive director and EMEA regional head.
“Rod’s experience overseeing compliance across multiple regions for a major financial institution adds significant value for clients who face regulatory and legal challenges,” said FTI’s Global Forensics and Litigation leader Paul Ficca. FTI Asia co-lead Jon Rowell adds; “Rod is well-known among both the financial services and regulatory communities, and with his depth of expertise, he will help grow our presence in Asia Pacific and enhance the bench of talent we offer our clients globally.”
The firm has already gathered and developed a significant and respected presence in the forensics consulting domain both in the Asia Pacific and abroad. Recently, FTI and its subsidiary Compass Lexecon achieved record representation on Who’s Who Legal Arbitration 2019: Expert Witnesses list, making up nearly a quarter of the entire list – with Francis’s new Hong Kong-based forensics division colleagues Mike Allen, Jon Rowell and Graham McNeill among them.
At FTI, Francis has been tasked with helping clients in the banking and financial services segments to manage the increasingly complex global regulatory environment, with financial institutions under greater scrutiny than ever before. Under the Financial Crime Compliance offering new to Asia and to be led by Francis, FTI will provide “end-to-end anti-money laundering, sanctions and anti-corruption consulting services, including programme design, implementation and complex investigations and remediation tasks,” – complementing the firm’s existing offerings in the US and UK.
Previously, while at Citibank, Francis focused on coordinating and implementing programme change requirements as to new U.S. regulatory obligations and commitments under three U.S. consent orders, building a compliance team of more than 400 professionals while helping to improve the overall quality of the anti-money laundering, sanctions and anti-bribery and anti-corruption functions across business sectors, including Consumer/Retail, Wholesale, Investment Banking, Wealth Management and Asset Management Banking.
“As an independent global advisory firm, FTI Consulting offers the perfect opportunity for me to leverage my experience and help companies ensure they remain compliant with financial and anti-corruption laws and regulations,” said Francis of his fresh appointment. “I have known FTI Consulting’s professionals and reputation for many years, and I am excited to join the firm.” Francis also serves as a Board Member of the Hong Kong Chapter of the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS).
