Venkatesh Vusirikala

Governance and control of the global sanctions screening procedures

Aligning the procedures according to the latest Sanctions regulatory requirements

Oversee operations to ensure the screening guidelines are consistently adhered

Maintain the regulatory and internal control standards and ensure compliance

Continuously re-assess the operational risks inherent to the process due to changing market conditions,legal and regulatory requirements

Support business and operations team with capacity management, AOP's , resource forecasting

Stakeholder management with various lines of business and functions like Compliance, Risk and regulatory

Liaison with audit and accountable for closing audit identified gaps

Work with technology and transformation teams towards improving process efficiency and quality in the screening process

• Define internal controls and its sustenance within the operational risk framework to address audit identified issues
• Audit and Control the screening mechanism of the entities
• Lead Oversight missions with the aim ensuring all entities are aligned to central platform
• Oversee the addition / update/ removal of good guy lists
• Quality Management of the filter optimizations
• Sanctions Watch list Management and Fircosoft SME on related applications like FMM,FML & FFF Classic
• Ensuring Sanction screening policies and procedures are followed across the screening utilities and help in setting up a robust and capable screening operations
• Identify various gaps in existing operations and work with the entities to close these findings
• Leading a team of 30 members who work on various functions Like quality, controls, filter management and impact analysis
• Project and migration cycle management where key responsibilities include defining the project, implementation of the tasks within the the required timelines and deliver continuous results.

• Payment Sanction Screening process for Asia Pacific region servicing 21 countries
• Responsible to manage a group of 8-10 Assistant Managers with an average team size of 18- 20 executives working for various countries
• Managing the day to day operations for screening of transactions - High Value , SEPA, securities payments etc at different levels including investigations and correspondence
• Effectively lead the team through various process changes like resubmit detection, centralization of Financial Crime and Compliance teams, Russian sectorial sanctions, Enhanced Alert Disposition
• Ensuring the quality monitoring framework for screening is implemented and followed
• Actively supporting audit reviews across various geographies and processes while addressing the identified risks
• Working with a geographically diverse team and building strong relationships with stakeholders across locations and regions
• Ensure Appropriate levels of operational controls are maintained to ensure no errors lead to any operational losses, policy and regulatory breaches
• Support key strategic initiatives in the Artificial Intelligence and Robotics space
• Working on various Streamlining and Automation projects by way of implementing workflow changes, removing redundancy and supporting technical solutions leading to improved productivity and profitability.

• Managing team working on payments sanctions screening for Asia Pacific region where payments are screened using FIRCOSOFT to ensure all payments which include inward and outward payments from all gateways like SWIFT, GPS, GTRF are compliant with sanctions and AML regulations
• Team administration and daily operations which includes ensuring payments are screened according to sanctions and AML laws, handling complaints and escalations, first point of contact for query handling of team members and updating team members to current AML and Sanctions Procedures for an average team size of 18-20 members
• Coordinating with business partners across operations situated in various locations of Asia Pacific
• Review and help quality teams in updating procedures and mitigate quality disputes
• Ensuring feedback is delivered to team members, conduct monthly performance and frequent with a primary objective of improving performance and resolving people issues and conflict management
• Effectively lead the team through various changes like enhanced sectorial sanctions, centralization of financial crime and compliance teams
• Testing of payment messages in FIRCOSOFT Classic before implementing rules on live payment
• Actively contribute to WOLF Filter (FIRCOSOFT) optimization to reduce false positives
• Ensuring the team is audit ready
• Coordinate between operations and quality team to ensure the quality feedback is properly implemented
• Conduct periodic performance reviews and provide coaching to team members

• Payments and Cash Monitoring Team monitors cross border wire transfers to detect potential money laundering and terrorist financing issues and escalate suspicious activities
• Receive & Process all payments and wire transfers Analyzing financial data of customers and conduct required due diligence on persons, accounts or activities in accordance with AML regulations, OFAC sanctioned entities and watch-list entities
• Screening and understanding alerted transaction information from applications like NORKOM, Google, Lexis
• Nexis, RDC, CIF and KYC documents
• Identify and escalate potential money laundering, terrorist financing and other suspicious activities during the alert monitoring process.