Karim Rajwani will join the British offices of Deutsche Bank AG starting next week, ending a long stint at Royal Bank of Canada, where he led the bank’s anti-money laundering operations for more than a decade.Toru Hanai/Reuters
One of Canada's top experts at identifying money laundering and terrorist financing at financial institutions is leaving the country for a new job in Europe.
Karim Rajwani will join the British offices of Deutsche Bank AG starting next week, ending a long stint at Royal Bank of Canada, where he led the bank's anti-money laundering operations for more than a decade.
"It will be more focused on the technology strategy for fighting financial crime," he said, calling the new job a better opportunity with more money, and noting that it brings him closer to family members in Britain.
Before the 2001 terrorist attacks in New York, banks' anti-money laundering departments tended to be fairly modest operations.
Not any more. Institutions have invested heavily in technology and people, with such departments now ranging in size from several hundred people to a few thousand – and setting off a hunt for experts.
The efforts at tightening control over money laundering are ongoing, and the stakes are high. HSBC Holdings PLC raised the ire of U.S. regulators for laundering Mexican drug cartel money, and agreed to pay a $1.9-billion (U.S.) fine in 2012.
The Wall Street Journal recently alleged that RBC itself is closing many of its wealth management offices in Latin America due in part to concern over potential money-laundering activities.
"Every bank has its share of issues. I think RBC has been fortunate in that it has not had that many issues," Mr. Rajwani said. "We've identified and reported a lot of suspicious activity or suspicious transactions in Canada."
Garry Clement, a former RCMP officer and now a financial investigator with Clement Advisory Group, noted that Mr. Rajwani was one of the longest-serving anti-money laundering officers at the Canadian banks – and his invitations to speak before government committees reflects how he was perceived by the community.
"There are very few people who have the recognized expertise in the compliance field at his level," he said. "You are in demand."
David Berman