Denis O’Connor

Financial Crime Expert

 

Denis O’Connor is both a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Securities & Investment (CISI). Professionally, he has focussed on financial crime issues for many years and is a frequent speaker on the subject at conferences and seminars in the UK and abroad.

Denis was responsible for all financial crime issues at the London branch of a major European bank for almost a decade. Of particular note is that he led for the bank in a court case to resolve the return of monies to individuals who had fallen victim to advance fee frauds and whose funds were frozen in a correspondent bank account. He also developed and submitted a Suspicious Activity Report which led to foreign politicians and senior civil servants being imprisoned as well as a European multinational company paying a substantial fine for paying bribes.

Between 2003 and 2010 Denis was a member of the British Bankers’ Association (now UK Finance) Money Laundering Committee, where he participated in various advocacy efforts on behalf of the banking industry with government and regulators.

Denis then joined a leading trade association for investment banks where he was the policy lead on financial crime issues. As part of his role, frequently he engaged directly with HM Treasury, the FCA, the European Commission, MEPs, the Financial Action Task Force and the Basel Committee for Banking Supervision on their various proposals.

Between 2010 and 2016, Denis was a member of both the JMLSG’s Board of Directors and its Editorial Panel. He directly contributed to the JMLSG Guidance on Politically Exposed Persons, wholesale banking and trade finance amongst other topics.

Denis is also a member of the CISI’s Examination Board and a member of its committee for the UK Regulation & Professional Integrity examination.

Denis has a M.Sc. degree from the University of Leicester in the Sociology of Sport and a Post Graduate Diploma in Sports Law from King’s College London. He has assisted on the BBC Panorama programmes on corruption within FIFA and has received credits from the author of books on the same subject.