Ashish Vashishth

Senior Financial Crime, AML, KYC, Risk & Compliance professional with over 13 years of experience supporting UK banking operations across Financial Crime investigations, Customer Due Diligence (CDD), Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD), Transaction Monitoring, Sanctions Screening, Quality Assurance and Regulatory Compliance. Experienced in supporting complex investigations, identifying financial crime risks, strengthening control frameworks, producing Management Information (MI), supporting governance and driving continuous improvement while ensuring compliance with FCA, JMLSG and UK Money Laundering Regulations. Currently pursuing CAMS (Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist) certification from ACAMS to further strengthen professional expertise in financial crime and AML best practices.

Assistant Manager at Genpact (2023-01 – Present)

Global Financial Crime Operations

• Conduct complex Financial Crime risk assessments using Fenergo to perform CDD, EDD, client onboarding and periodic reviews in accordance with FCA, JMLSG and UK Money Laundering Regulations.
• Act as an SME for complex Financial Crime investigations, providing technical guidance on AML risk assessments, sanctions screening, customer due diligence and regulatory compliance.
• Investigate high-risk customer relationships involving sanctions, PEPs, adverse media and complex ownership structures, applying risk-based decision-making and recommending appropriate escalation in line with internal policy.
• Lead stakeholder engagement through governance calls, performance reviews and Management Information (MI), presenting insights on productivity, quality, SLA/KPI performance, operational risks and escalations, and partnering with client and internal stakeholders to drive remediation, service delivery and continuous improvement.
• Produce and analyse Management Information (MI), acting as a process consultant by developing presentations, performance packs and dashboards, and providing senior stakeholders with insights and recommendations on financial crime risks, operational trends, compliance performance and key risk metrics.
• Assess manual and system-generated alerts, analysing transaction activity, customer profiles, sanctions, PEPs and adverse media to determine risk-based outcomes and appropriate escalation in line with internal Financial Crime policies.
• Conduct risk-based reviews of AML, sanctions and customer due diligence activities to identify control weaknesses, recommend remediation actions and improve overall control effectiveness.
• Escalate confirmed suspicious activity to the Financial Crime Compliance team via internal Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs), documenting risk rationale and recommended actions in line with the bank's SAR referral process.
• Provide SME support to operational teams and stakeholders on Financial Crime policies, AML risk assessments, complex customer reviews and escalation pathways, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements.
• Contribute to workflow optimisation initiatives that have improved operational turnaround time by 20% while maintaining quality and regulatory compliance.

Lead Associate at WNS Global Services (2021-07 – 2023-01)

• Utilised NetReveal to investigate Transaction Monitoring alerts, analysing customer behaviour, identifying unusual transaction patterns and recommending appropriate escalation based on AML risk indicators.
• Supported governance and audit readiness by providing technical guidance on Financial Crime controls, AML risk assessments and complex customer due diligence reviews.
• Prepared comprehensive investigation reports, documenting findings, risk indicators and recommendations to support internal Financial Crime investigations and escalation decisions.
• Analysed transaction monitoring trends, suspicious activity patterns and emerging financial crime typologies, recommending enhancements to detection controls and risk mitigation processes.
• Served as tool champion and SME coach for the team, providing hands-on training and guidance on deep-dive screening and EDD using World-Check One, Dow Jones and FinScan, upskilling junior analysts and driving consistent quality across high-risk portfolio reviews.

Senior QA Analyst at NatWest (Royal Bank of Scotland) (2015-07 – 2021-07)

• Performed independent Quality Assurance and control testing across AML, CDD, EDD, KYC and Transaction Monitoring activities, ensuring compliance with internal policies, FCA requirements and JMLSG guidance.
• Assessed the effectiveness of Financial Crime controls by identifying compliance gaps, procedural weaknesses and operational risks, recommending corrective actions to strengthen the control framework.
• Conducted thematic quality reviews, root cause analysis and trend analysis to identify recurring issues, improve investigation quality and support continuous process improvement initiatives.
• Acted as the Financial Crime SME, providing technical guidance and independent challenge on customer risk assessments, due diligence outcomes, sanctions screening and regulatory requirements.
• Executed comprehensive QA reviews across large-scale remediation programmes, complex customer due diligence cases and multi-jurisdictional Financial Crime operations while maintaining high quality standards.
• Reviewed Transaction Monitoring investigations and supported enhancements to Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to reflect evolving regulatory requirements, policy updates and industry best practices.
• Produced Management Information (MI), quality dashboards and trend analysis to monitor Financial Crime risks, control effectiveness, operational performance and regulatory compliance.
• Collaborated with Compliance, Operations and Quality teams to address control gaps, improve investigation quality and support regulatory governance initiatives.
• Challenged investigation outcomes and quality findings with operational teams, tracking remediation actions and providing recommendations to improve case quality, risk management and adherence to Financial Crime policies.

Process Associate at NatWest (Royal Bank of Scotland) (2012-11 – 2015-07)

• Performed Customer Due Diligence (CDD), Customer Identification Programme (CIP) and KYC verification for individual and corporate customers, ensuring compliance with internal policies, JMLSG guidance and UK AML regulatory requirements.
• Conducted risk-based customer onboarding by validating identity documentation, analysing corporate ownership structures, identifying Ultimate Beneficial Owners (UBOs) and supporting Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) for higher-risk relationships.
• Utilised UK Companies House, Dun & Bradstreet and open-source intelligence (OSINT) to verify corporate entities and assess customer risk, and performed sanctions, PEP and adverse media screening, escalating higher-risk relationships in line with Financial Crime policies and established risk appetite.
• Maintained high standards of data quality and regulatory compliance by ensuring accurate customer records, timely completion of onboarding activities and adherence to service level agreements.
• Collaborated with internal stakeholders to resolve onboarding exceptions, support customer due diligence reviews and improve operational efficiency within Financial Crime processes.

Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Zoology – Agra University

GNIIT in Business System and Information Management – NIIT Connaught Place

Certification in Advanced Excel and Basic VBA – IT Career Gurugram