Sasindrakumar Chandran

I am a Central Bank of UAE–approved Chief Compliance Officer and MLRO with 20+ years of experience building, transforming, and leading AML/CFT compliance functions across financial services, exchange houses, and fintech platforms — spanning 26 countries across the Middle East, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas.

My career has been defined by three things: compliance transformation, regulatory credibility, and building functions that genuinely work.

I have led three consecutive compliance transformation mandates — each a targeted remediation appointment, each delivered to measurably improved regulatory standing with zero repeated findings at re-examination. Across these roles I have restructured teams, rebuilt governance frameworks, implemented technology solutions, and fostered compliance cultures where frontline staff actively contribute to financial crime detection — not just follow procedures.

Beyond organisational work, I operate at the national regulatory level. I serve on the CBUAE Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Committee as one of three compliance representatives from the UAE exchange house sector. I am a FERG Sub-Committee member — one of eight selected from 64 UAE exchange houses — a position I have held continuously since 2020 across multiple employers.

I have twice represented the UAE at FATF mutual evaluation visits. I contributed to the ADGM blockchain eKYC proof of concept that was subsequently adopted as CBUAE national policy. And I served on the CBUAE-led goAML implementation consortium, ensuring first-mover status for fully automated XML-based STR reporting from launch day.

On the technology side, I have led a USD 5M global AML transformation (NICE Actimize across 26 countries, delivered 30% under budget), implemented the UAE's first non-face-to-face KYC onboarding in partnership with EFR, integrated digital identity APIs across 7 countries, and contributed to a UK-licensed Payment as a Service platform with JPMorgan as inaugural client.

I am currently open to CCO, MLRO, Head of Financial Crime, and senior AML advisory roles at banks, fintech platforms, and regulatory consulting firms in the UAE and GCC.

Appointed to lead a compliance transformation mandate at one of the UAE's established exchange houses.

In under two years, I restructured the compliance function, rebuilt team capability, and delivered a 74% reduction in regulatory audit findings over two examination cycles — with zero repeated findings at the most recent examination. Regulatory rating upgraded to Medium High Risk.

Key deliverables

→ Centralised corporate onboarding framework with risk-based documentation standards — zero regulatory observations on KYC and record retention at most recent examination

→ Customer risk rating module delivered in one month using self-authored specifications; reviewed and accepted by the regulator with no repeated findings

→ Automated regulatory enquiry management using bot technology — eliminating one full-time manual resource

→ Risk-based CDD policy simplification — contributed estimated 10% volume growth in year of implementation

→ Obtained regulatory approval for a high-risk jurisdiction remittance arrangement with full AML/CFT/CPF control framework — contributing approximately 35% of organisational monthly net profit

→ Defined end-to-end frictionless digital onboarding journey for mobile application with risk-based EDD triggers

→ SAS implementation: screening and real-time transaction monitoring live; risk rating and TM modules in active development

Appointed to lead compliance remediation following a regulatory examination.

Signature achievement: reversed a sanctions screening thematic assessment ranking from 31st to 1st among 32 UAE financial institutions — within one month — achieving the lowest false positive rate and highest detection accuracy industry-wide, without replacing the existing legacy solution. The regulator requested a formal presentation of our methodology.

Key deliverables

→ Regulatory re-examination: inherited observations (including critical findings) reduced by over 70%; zero repeated findings, zero critical findings. Regulatory rating upgraded

→ Grew internal STR filings from negligible to a sustained monthly pipeline within 12 months — demonstrating compliance culture transformation through targeted FLA training

→ Proactively identified regulatory violations at two correspondent exchange houses through mystery shopping; offboarded both relationships and filed STRs ahead of regulatory action — both entities subsequently lost their licences. Organisation faced zero regulatory exposure

→ Introduced EFR-based non-face-to-face digital onboarding — first exchange house in the UAE to integrate EFR into its core compliance solution

→ Completed IMTF compliance solution product review, business requirements documentation, and Phase 1 UAT

Short-term compliance transformation mandate.

→ Restructured compliance function into three specialised verticals: Sanctions Screening, Transaction Monitoring, and a newly created centralised Corporate Onboarding unit

→ Conducted comprehensive EDD review of entire correspondent bank portfolio using Bankers Almanac; presented to board with full sign-off

→ Addressed critical sanctions screening gaps within 72 hours ahead of a CBUAE thematic test across 31 UAE financial institutions — ranked 6th nationally

→ Regulatory rating upgraded within 7 months of appointment

12 years across three phases of progressively senior compliance leadership — from building the sanctions function from zero to leading global AML transformation across 26 countries.

PHASE 1 — Sanctions & Compliance Foundation (2008–2010)

Built the sanctions screening function from zero. Identified and remediated critical flaws in the in-house screening logic — including partial name match failures and single-hit termination architecture. Introduced maker/checker governance for sanctions list management.

PHASE 2 — Global Compliance Unit & Technology Transformation (2010–2015)

→ Led a USD 5M global AML transformation — NICE Actimize compliance suite across 26 countries; delivered 30% under budget and on schedule

→ Established AML shared services centre in Kochi, India — scaled from 6 analysts to 100+ covering sanctions, transaction monitoring, and CDD; achieved 30% reduction in global compliance operational costs by 2014

→ Served on the CBUAE-led goAML implementation consortium (9 institutions: exchange houses, local banks, international banks); achieved first-mover status — only institution with fully automated XML-based STR reporting from national launch day

→ Selected by CBUAE as one of two industry representatives on a 4-member task force (alongside 2 CBUAE officials) to drive sector-wide remittance reporting compliance; primary liaison for 20 exchange houses — all achieved compliance within one-month mandate

→ Integrated digital identity verification APIs (EFR, VEDA, Equifax, GB Group, Securefacts) across UAE, UK, US, Canada, Australia, Qatar, and Oman

→ Compliance risk advisor for 100+ product and process launches across 26 countries

PHASE 3 — Strategic Advisory & Innovation (2015–2020)

→ Contributed to ADGM blockchain eKYC proof of concept — subsequently adopted as CBUAE national policy

→ Spearheaded UK-licensed Payment as a Service (PaaS) remittance aggregation platform — Big 4 policy architecture, JPMorgan as correspondent and inaugural client; testing completed by both parties

→ Led AML/CFT compliance framework for GoCash Travel Card (SVF-based product)

→ Developed AML/CFT governance standards for East African market expansion — became sector reference model

→ Compliance advisor to Travelex Actimize implementation steering committee

Rapid progression from frontline staff to youngest Branch Head in company history (age 25) to Country Operations Head, Kuwait.

→ Green Community branch: built three-function team structure from scratch; achieved break-even in 6 months against a 2-year management projection. Branch received Dubai Government Service Excellence Award 2006–07 — first exchange house in Dubai to receive this award

→ Country Operations Head Kuwait: strategic HQ and branch network relocation; grew new customer base 48% and return customers 68% (average 3 transactions/year) within 12 months — country-wide results

Certifications

Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) ACAMS, 2010

NICE Actimize AML & RCM Platform Certification, 2015

Education

Master in Computer Management (MCM) — University of Pune, 2002

Bachelor of Commerce, Cost & Work Accounting — University of Pune, 2