Alvarez & Marsal deepens financial services portfolio with new Financial Crime practice

Global consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal has announced the launch of its Financial Crime practice in Asia Pacific, deepening its portfolio of offerings for financial institutions in the region.

The new team, part of the Disputes & Investigations business, strengthens the firm’s ability to support clients facing complex regulatory, enforcement, compliance, and financial crime-related challenges.

The practice will advise financial institutions on anti-money laundering, economic sanctions, anti-bribery and corruption, and fraud risk management matters. The team will work closely with the firm’s Financial Services practice, and specialist teams in cyber risk, digital, and regulatory advisory – with the aim to offer and integrated solution.

David Hicks, Managing Director and Global Co-Leader of Disputes & Investigations, said: “Financial institutions are facing more assertive supervision, increased enforcement activity, and growing exposure to fraud and financial crime, especially in Asia-Pacific. Our investment in Financial Crime services reflects our intention to support clients with practical, execution-focused advice.”

“The establishment of our Financial Crime practice strengthens our ability to bring the right expertise together across the firm and support clients on complex, multi-dimensional financial crime matters with coordinated outcomes,” added Henry Chambers, Managing Director and Co-Leader of Disputes & Investigations in Asia.

The new arm is led by Rod Francis, who joins the consulting firm as a Managing Director. He has more than 35 years of global and regional experience across senior compliance leadership roles at financial institutions and at advisory companies. Throughout his career, he has led large-scale financial crime programmes at financial institutions across Asia-Pacific and worked with regulators to build frameworks and manage enforcement.

Commenting on his move, Francis said: “Alvarez & Marsal’s focus on hands-on execution, its ability to bring together investigations, compliance, and transformation expertise, and its commitment to building senior, practitioner-led teams create a dynamic foundation for helping clients address their most complex financial crime and compliance challenges while maximizing value and mitigating risk.”