SOWMYA TEMKER
Hyderabad
Summary
Financial Crime Compliance professional with 25+ years of experience at HSBC, progressing from banking and mortgage operations into sanctions screening, advisory and regional sanctions risk stewardship. Experienced in sanctions governance, risk and control oversight, complex case escalation, management information (MI), reconciliation and stakeholder engagement across regional teams. Knowledge of key sanctions frameworks including OFAC, EU, UK HMT and UN. Recognised for sound judgement, policy interpretation, process improvement and a risk-based approach in highly regulated environments.
Overview
1
1
Language
26
26
years of professional experience
Work History
Assistant Vice President – Sanctions Risk Stewardship / Risk Governance
HSBC
01.2025 - Current
- Provide sanctions risk stewardship and governance support for the ASP region, aligned with internal policy, risk appetite and regulatory requirements.
- Monitored sanctions screening and transaction-related triggers, including UCM and non-UCM scenarios, enhancing monitoring processes, flow efficiency, and governance controls.
- Support risk and control management by identifying internal breaches, control gaps and operational risks, and coordinating escalation, remediation and closure tracking.
- Managed sanctions-related queries by assessing and prioritising cases. and cases, coordinating with Sanctions Advisory, Relationship Managers, Compliance and Operations to clarify and resolve issues efficiently.
- Prepared weekly risk and governance updates, management information and presentations for senior stakeholders and governance forums, facilitating informed decision-making.
- Perform and present reconciliation and control-validation activities across TSRA, SEQ and RFA, ensuring accuracy, completeness and timely resolution of discrepancies.
- Provided process guidance to colleagues during team meetings. and knowledge with colleagues and support collaboration across regional teams.
- 2001 – Present | Progressive career across banking operations, management, sanctions screening, advisory and risk stewardship
Manager – Sanctions Level 3 / Sanctions Advisory
HSBC
01.2020 - 01.2025
- Assessed complex sanctions name-screening and advisory cases, ensuring compliance with regulatory standards in high-risk and sensitive matters.
- Partnered with Sanctions Advisory and internal stakeholders to resolve complex cases and support sound risk decisions.
- Analysed potential sanctions matches and risk indicators, applying relevant regulatory requirements and escalating cases appropriately.
- Supported quality, risk and control objectives while providing guidance on sanctions processes and escalation requirements to enhance decision-making.
Assistant Manager – First Direct / Virtual Banking
HSBC
01.2017 - 01.2020
- Oversaw capacity planning and workload allocation, providing training to enhance process efficiency and reporting accuracy.
- Streamlined mortgage processes to ensure adherence to risk management, compliance, service quality, and policy standards.
- Conducted audit checks and quality reviews, resolving escalated high-risk cases in a timely manner.
Customer Service Executive – Mortgages / Banking Operations
HSBC
01.2001 - 01.2017
- Managed mortgage redemptions ensuring accuracy and compliance with service levels.
- Resolved customer and stakeholder queries while supporting process improvement, training, and policy standardisation.
- Maintained excellent customer satisfaction by offering friendly, helpful and informative customer service.
- Maintained excellent customer satisfaction by delivering high-quality customer service and dealing with all matters appropriately.
- Followed-up on customer interactions to provide further support.
Education
Bachelor of Commerce -
DBPM College
Hyderabad, TG2001
Diploma - Software Technology
CMC Ltd
HyderabadSkills
- Sanctions Risk Stewardship & Governance Sanctions Advisory & Screening Risk and Control Oversight Regulatory Compliance (OFAC, EU, UK HMT, UN) Governance MI & Senior Stakeholder Reporting TSRA, SEQ & RFA Reconciliation UCM / Non-UCM Risk Triggers High-Risk Case Assessment & Escalation KYC / AML / Financial Crime Risk Client Due Diligence Process Improvement & Control Enhancement Stakeholder Management
- Sanctions screening tools: Oracle, LexisNexis Risk analysis and reporting Process documentation and control frameworks Microsoft Excel, Word and PowerPoint
Accomplishments
- Received Super Star recognition (2023) for consistent 100% quality.
- Recognised as STAR Performer (2021) for sanctions performance; also received Quality Excellence and IVY League awards.
- Identified £49K risk exposure in unsecured lending, helping prevent operational loss.
- Integrated Client Tool implementation: reduced processing time by 13% while maintaining 98% quality.
- Continuous Quality Improvement: contributed to an 84% reduction in complaints through root-cause analysis and process/control improvements.
- Supported mortgage process transformation and control improvements that achieved 98% quality benchmarks.
PROJECTS
Integrated Client Tool Implementation: Supported integration of multiple platforms, user training and adoption; reduced processing time by 13% while maintaining 98% quality., Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI): Used root-cause analysis and stakeholder collaboration to improve service quality and controls, contributing to an 84% reduction in complaints., Business Transformation Unit: Supported mortgage process redesign, monitoring, reporting and governance, strengthening controls and operational efficiency.
EDUCATION & CERTIFICATION
ICA Certification (2024)
LANGUAGES
English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Marathi
Timeline
Assistant Vice President – Sanctions Risk Stewardship / Risk Governance
HSBC
01.2025 - Current
Manager – Sanctions Level 3 / Sanctions Advisory
HSBC
01.2020 - 01.2025
Assistant Manager – First Direct / Virtual Banking
HSBC
01.2017 - 01.2020
Customer Service Executive – Mortgages / Banking Operations
HSBC
01.2001 - 01.2017
Bachelor of Commerce -
DBPM College
Diploma - Software Technology
CMC Ltd