Harish Upadhya

People Management & Leadership: Financial Crime Compliance leader with 15+ years of progressive experience in AML, KYC, CDD, EDD, Transaction Monitoring across APAC markets. Leading teams, driving performance and capability development, managing recruitment and training, overseeing quality and SLAs, resolving escalations, supporting transitions, and delivering continuous process improvement. Proven track record in managing high-volume alert queues, improving SAR filing quality, driving process improvement and operational excellence, and ensuring adherence to regulatory and audit requirements.

Skilled in stakeholder management, risk assessment, case management, quality assurance, and MIS reporting within global Financial Crime Compliance and Banking Operations functions.

Associate Director, Financial Crime Compliance at Standard Chartered Bank (2016-03 – Present)

• Lead and manage AML/KYC operations teams (15+), including Team Leads, Specialists, Senior Analysts.
• Drive team performance through goal setting, coaching, mentoring, performance reviews, and capability development.
• Manage workforce planning, capacity utilization, resource allocation, and succession planning.
• Lead recruitment, interviewing, onboarding, training, and retention initiatives.
• Build a high-performance culture focused on accountability, quality, continuous improvement, and employee engagement.
• Provide strategic and operational oversight across AML/KYC processes, including Transaction Monitoring, CDD, EDD, sanctions screening, PEP/adverse media screening, investigations, and remediation.
• Ensure timely identification, investigation, and escalation of suspicious or unusual activities.
• Act as a senior escalation point for complex, high-risk, and sensitive cases.
• Ensure adherence to internal AML/KYC policies, regulatory requirements, and risk-management standards.
• Oversee quality assurance and implement corrective actions to address recurring errors or control gaps.
• Partnering with and senior business stakeholders in Compliance, Operations, Technology, QA, Risk.
• Provide regular updates on KPIs, productivity, quality, SLA/TAT performance, risks, and operational challenges.
• Participate in governance meetings and drive resolution of key operational and risk issues.
• Support audits, regulatory reviews, internal control assessments, and remediation activities.
• Drive process improvement, automation, standardization, and productivity initiatives.
• Identify process gaps, control weaknesses, and opportunities to improve efficiency and customer experience.
• Lead implementation of new processes, policies, systems, and regulatory changes.
• Deliver measurable improvements in quality, turnaround time, productivity, capacity utilization, and operational cost.
• Lead or support end-to-end transition of AML/KYC processes across geographies.
• Manage transition planning, resource readiness, knowledge transfer, training, process documentation, and stabilization.
• Participate as an interviewer, trainer, and people manager during team expansion and transition projects.
• Ensure successful handover of processes while maintaining service quality and SLA performance.
• Improved team productivity by 71%, increasing average throughput from 3.5 to 6 cases over 9 months through structured mentorship, regular performance reviews, targeted coaching and capability-building initiatives.
• Led a team that consistently achieved the expected throughput target of 6 cases throughout the year, sustaining delivery performance against operational expectations.
• Implemented process improvement initiatives focused on the RFI process, contributing to a 7% reduction in RFI volume, lower resource dependency and operational cost optimization.
• Supported a major market transition from India to Bangladesh involving approximately 150+ individuals, contributing to interviewing, candidate identification, selection, training, knowledge transfer and production readiness.

AML Analyst at Deutsche Bank (2012-06 – 2016-02)

• Performed end-to-end AML investigations and transaction monitoring using Norkom, LexisNexis, and Arachnys, identifying and escalating suspicious activity in line with KYC and CDD standards.
• Conducted enhanced due diligence (EDD) and watchlist/PEP screening on high-risk customer accounts, ensuring compliance with global AML and sanctions regulations.
• Collaborated with global Compliance and Risk stakeholders to support regulatory audits, case quality reviews, and process documentation.

Process Associate at Accenture (2010-11 – 2012-05)

• Managed Accounts Receivable operations for Thomas Cook, ensuring accurate reconciliation and timely reporting.
• Prepared MIS reports and supported financial operations, contributing to process accuracy and operational efficiency.

MBA in Finance – Visvesvaraya Technological University

Bachelor of Commerce in Finance & Accounts – Bangalore University