Lead Financial Crimes Officer

About this role:
Wells Fargo Bank, N.A, Dubai International Financial Centre "DIFC" Branch (WFBNA DIFC Branch) is seeking a Money Laundering Risk Officer (MLRO).
In this role, you will join a branch of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. in the United States that supports Corporate & Investment Banking activities across the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa. The Branch's principal line of business is the Financial Institutions Group (FIG), which serves regulated financial institutions, central banks, and sovereign wealth funds. You will also work alongside two supporting business lines: Commercial Capital and Global Payments & Liquidity (GPL).
As the MLRO, based in the UAE, you will be responsible for implementing and overseeing the Branch's AML policies, procedures, systems, and controls. You will ensure adherence to the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) AML Rulebook and all applicable UAE AML legislation.
You will report functionally to the Head of International Financial Crimes Risk Management and locally to the WFBNA DIFC Branch Manager. As the designated MLRO with the DFSA, you will act as the primary point of contact for all financial crime matters. In this capacity, you will work closely with Internal Audit, external regulators, the UAE Financial Intelligence Unit, Enterprise and EMEA Financial Crimes Risk Management teams, Independent Risk Management, and Business Financial Crimes Control teams.
In this role, you will ensure that the DIFC Branch complies with all relevant local legal and regulatory financial crime requirements, while also aligning with Wells Fargo's internal policies and global financial crime standards.
In this role, you will:

• Provide analysis of legal, regulatory and other developments relating to Financial Crime in UAE and make recommendations to ensure related policies and procedures are compliant.
• Act as registered Money Laundering Reporting Officer for WFBNA DIFC Branch.
• Set and direct the strategy for FCRM in WFBNA DIFC Branch, with the agreement and support of the Head of International Financial Crimes Risk Management.
• Deliver and maintain an effective financial crimes risk management framework within UAE.
• Establish robust governance and reporting of FCRM matters in Dubai.
• Ensure that the WFBNA DIFC Branch meets local anti-money laundering, financial crimes and targeted financial sanctions regulatory requirements.
• Maintain effective oversight over the FCRM programs in place in UAE and report on this to the Head of International Financial Crimes Risk Management, the EMEA FCRM Governance Forum and the WFBNA DIFC Branch Management Committee.
• Provide management information and support and escalate any material matters on an ongoing basis to the Head of International Financial Crimes Risk Management, WFBNA DIFC Branch Manager and to the WFBNA DIFC Branch Management Committee to support the fulfilment of their responsibility and to ensure that they have oversight and transparency of FCRM risks.
• Develop constructive stakeholder relationships with Senior Management in Dubai and regional and corporate stakeholders including Audit, Compliance and Operational Risk to drive a positive risk management culture and collaborative approach.
• Work closely with EMEA Regulatory Relations in the management of all interaction with UAE regulatory authorities including inspections related to financial crime matters.
• Work closely with Financial Crime team members in EMEA and USA in the development and roll out of global and local Financial Crime policies and procedures.
• Meet DFSA FCRM periodic reporting requirements and respond to ad hoc DFSA, Executive Office and UAE FIU requests.
• Maintain oversight over elements of the WFBNA DIFC FCRM program that are delivered through outsourced activities.
• Contribute, support and leverage the WFBI Dublin FCRM team to complete the WFBNA DIFC FCRM work programme.
• Provide local market Compliance knowledge and subject matter expert advisory support to Authorised Compliance Officer, Branch Manager and international business aligned compliance officers, as required.
• Facilitating Compliance regulatory submissions, as back up for Authorised Compliance Officer and/or for submissions requiring submission by local employee.
• Carrying out such other duties as may reasonably be required.

Required Qualifications

• Experience in Financial Crimes, Operational Risk, Fraud, Sanctions, Anti-Bribery, Corruption, or equivalent demonstrated through one or a combination of the following: work experience, training, military experience, education
• Leadership Experience

Desired Qualifications:

• Extensive and proven Financial Crimes Risk Management Experience, ideally at a Management level of a large international or global financial group.
• Financial Crime related qualification or legal / accountancy qualification preferred.
• Leadership capability, leads by example, fosters trust and is aligned with the Bank's Vision, Values and Goals.
• Developed communication (written and oral and presentation) and influencing skills are essential with an ability to liaise professionally and with diplomacy across all levels of staff.
• The ability to build strong working relationships across different functions and different levels including senior management.
• Creative and strategic thinking skills, including the ability to analyze complex business issues, identify key risks and controls and to utilize a pragmatic approach to achieve change.
• The ability to resolve complex issues in a large corporate environment, including partnering with others to achieve the optimal outcome.
• Strong organizational, analytical and documentation skills
• Ability to manage multiple competing initiatives and prioritise effectively.
• Developed risk management skills including appropriate use of escalation and consultation to manage risk effectively.
• Act with honesty and integrity in all aspects of their work

Job Expectations

• You will be registered with the DFSA as the WFBNA DIFC Branch MLRO and you will be registered with the UAE FIU. You must at all times remain fit and proper to perform your role, and this will be assessed on at least an annual basis.