Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Affiliations
Websites
Certification
Volunteer Experience
Timeline
Generic

Akosua Demanya

Toronto,Canada

Summary

An agile executor and value-adding professional with a background in Financial services, Consulting (Managed Services project management), and Corporate Regulatory Reporting and Compliance. Excel at finding solutions in executing operational strategies by identifying and resolving potential risks/threats/vulnerabilities as well as identifying opportunities, while managing client expectations. Able to effectively mentor team members, lead and manage large volumes of activities across multiple confidential and high visibility projects/workstreams. Proficient at synthesizing data to create effective reports and effectively communicate complex ideas orally and written with strong interpersonal skills. Versatile ability to manage business relationships, lead conversations around operational aspects of projects with various stakeholders by collaborating and partnering effectively with various cross-functional teams. Reliable Manager demonstrating high level of ownership and initiative. Possessing exceptional work ethic and desire to go above and beyond to exceed company expectations. Offering knack for building productive working relationships. Successful in fast-paced, deadline-driven environments to manage goals and team development. History of thriving in team-oriented environments.

Overview

16
16
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification

Work History

Manager, Corporate Security

PwC Canada
Toronto, Canada
11.2022 - Current
  • PwC became a Reporting entity to FINTRAC under the Proceeds of Crime Money Laundering and Terrorist Finacing Act (PCMLTFA/R) in June 2021
  • The Client Acceptance Investigations (CAI) team evaluates each client (entities and natural persons) for potential conflicts, regulatory, reputational and business risks as part of PwC Canada’s obligations in assessing the risk of doing business with new and existing Clients
  • PwC became a FINTRAC reporting entity under the Proceeds of Crime Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Act/Regulations (PCMLTFA/R)
  • My role assumed the responsibility for quality, risk and governance
  • Set up a robust Quality control and quality assurance program in accordance with NRMP and FINTRAC regulations based on Key Risk Indicators (KRI) of Know your Customer program (KYC)
  • Apply knowledge of FINTRAC regulations , PwC processes and policy in resolving and making risk based decisions on escalated missing Ultimate Beneficial owner (UBO) Adverse Media, politically exposed person (PEPs) and ensure communication with key stakeholders as well as escalate to AML Senior Manager, Risk and Quality Leads of related Line of Service
  • Identify and guide remediation of reportable incidents/issues and conduct risk based investigations into relevant matters based on strong understanding of the risk management framework of the KYC program
  • Collaborated with other managers on the team to develop and implement training and refresher training program to ensure the understanding of team members and processes are followed
  • Lead a team to achieve business / operational objectives, maintain effective day-to-day operations and deliver quality service and business lifecycle KPIs
  • Monitor service delivery against standards and implements actions to ensure service deliverables are achieved consistently by actively engaging internal partners to develop and maintain working relationships, build understanding of Line of service needs and deliver optimal solutions
  • Identify continuous improvement opportunities to strengthen the Client Acceptance process for effectiveness and efficiency
  • Coach team to ensure operations issues are handled appropriately and participate in the resolution (including escalation)to relevant internal and/or external partners.

Operations/Delivery Manager (North America) Financial Crimes Regulatory Compliance

IBM - Promontory Financial Group
Toronto, Canada
01.2022 - 09.2022
  • Leading and supervising the day-to-day operations of multi-faceted cross-border client delivery services team of 140 analysts with 16 team leads in Canada and the United States on an engagement for a global Crypto-currency exchange in the development and implementation of their complete regulatory compliance AML/ATF EDD, Periodic/Trigger Reviews, Fraud monitoring/reporting programs to get ready for regulatory examinations in accordance with terms of service agreements stipulated in the executed statement of work (SOW)/contract
  • Provide oversight to KYC/ EDD, Sanctions and Transaction monitoring operations and by ensuring the team adheres to engagement policies, processes and procedures by overseeing the team's production and results, seeking opportunities for improved efficiency and streamlined processes and conduct quality control review as necessary
  • Work with the Team Leads to ensure that an appropriate QC process is implemented to mitigate risks and adhere to client QC requirements/standards
  • Act as SME to address questions, review escalated cases, educate and inform the business regarding AML/ATF and Sanctions requirements to senior stakeholders as well as develop weekly and monthly operational reporting which leads to the identification of operational-related issues upfront as well as continually gather key metrics to monitor their AML/ATF program growth, resilience and trends
  • Continuously develop lasting relationships as a trusted partner with client decision makers by researching industry trends,competitive benchmarking and strategic opportunities to share internally with clients
  • Identify value in opportunities and involve in developing an end-to-end AML program to help ensure the client implements an effective operating processes and controls in their adherence to the day-to-day Anti-Money Laundering/Anti-Terrorist Financing regulatory expectations
  • Identify and coordinate with the Learning and Development team on training needs to ensure that the engagement team has the appropriate knowledge and tools to meet the client objectives.As well as work with Team Leads to create and facilitate opportunities for personal development and career progression
  • Administrative tasks including interview assessment,, onboarding /offboarding, time sheet approval,PTO & vacation approval, taking minutes at client meetings etc.

Senior Consultant, Financial Crimes and Risk Management Practice (Contract)

KPMG
Toronto, Canada
07.2021 - 01.2022
  • KPMG Financial Crimes Practice consults for public and private clients on financial crimes engagement/projects relating to fraud, human trafficking, Anti-money laundering, Terrorism and other predicate offences
  • Working on transaction monitoring FIU Alert Review look-back investigations for one of the big 5 banks in Canada
  • Achieved a 45% reduction in backlogged cases to be investigated, which has led to an increase in STR filed with FINTRAC
  • Adjudicated system generated alerts and Unusual Transactions Reports submitted by the client's branch networks and conducted reviews leading to closure if activities aligns with KYC and expected account activities or filing an STR if activities are deemed suspicious.

Senior AML/Risk & Compliance Consultant

IBM - Promontory Financial Group(PFG)
Markham, Canada
02.2018 - 07.2021
  • PFG is the Global Risk Management & Regulatory Compliance Services of IBM and consults on AML/ATF Remediation, Investigations, Product Risk Review,Compliance Process and Policy writing projects for banks in Canada, Europe, Latin America and the United States
  • As a member of governance, risk and compliance team, I have worked on projects where: Reviewed and evaluated FIU alerts review/ cases consisting of anomalous or potentially suspicious activity by conducting a complete risk based investigations into relevant matters referred to the Unit in line with approved processes, including but not limited to those originating from: Incidents generated by Automated Transaction Monitoring system, analysis of the results of media scans and matches from name scanning against relevant Politically Exposed Persons, Economic Sanctions and Terrorism Lists as well as incidents generated by Unusual Transaction Reporting (UTR) via referrals from internal partners and other business units
  • Appointed Team coach within 4 months
  • This deepened and broadened my leadership skills as subject matter expert in providing specialist expert advice, guidance and direction to team members on money laundering, financing of terrorism and related issues, seeking guidance and assistance when required from the Team lead and other colleagues, to support the achievement of the client’s organizational objectives and regulatory requirements
  • Chosen for Special Projects team – Team of seasoned Analysts that reviewed and resolved Tier2 Escalated cases
  • This team achieved a 60% reduction in backlog that propelled the bank to meet its regulatory filing requirements in Q3 and Q4of 2018 for the banks acquired in Latin America.

Operations Officer III (Account Investigations)

TD Canada Trust
Mississauga, Canada
10.2017 - 02.2018
  • Monitor and review transactions on deceased estate accounts to ensure these accounts are not being misused by their executors, trustees and or business partners
  • Notify and send tax statement reports to CRA on the deceased estates for tax purposes.

Trust Administrator (Trade/Securities AML/ Risk & Compliance)

Bank of New York Mellon
Toronto, Canada
05.2017 - 09.2017
  • Day to day administration of assigned accounts including but not limited to compliance reporting, swift transfers, trade clearance, investment settlement,funds disbursement in accordance with the bank’s business policies and procedures
  • Maintain working knowledge of accounts and governing documents in order to review and ensure that clients’ investment and disbursement directives complies with permitted investment and disbursement criteria stated in the governing documents as well as maintain audit trails on all transactions.

Risk Compliance quality Assurance Specialist (Regulatory Reporting)

Man Capital Partners
Accra, Ghana
06.2015 - 12.2016
  • Acted as an internal SME partner for expertise within the AML field and confidently conducts regularly scheduled and ad hoc audits and reviews of investigations completed by Analysts by following policy and procedures set out by the company and regulators
  • Perform recurring monitoring testing and document results by collecting, analyzing, and summarizing information to support the Compliance Management System (CMS).

Retail Operations Officer (AML/ Risk & Compliance)

Barclays Bank Plc
Manchester, United Kingdom
08.2012 - 11.2014

Compliance Officer (Real Estate Finance)

Assenta Property Group
Kumasi, Ghana
08.2008 - 12.2010

Education

Black Leadership Institute on Social Action for Change Program -

Skills for Change
01.2021

Operations Management -

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
01.2016

Master's Degree in International Banking and Finance -

University of Salford Manchester
01.2012

BSC Land Economy -

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
01.2008

Skills

  • Critical thinking
  • Excellent analytical skills
  • Problem Solving
  • Research
  • Investigations
  • Internal audits
  • Project/Program and Service delivery
  • Change Management
  • Strategic planning
  • Operational reporting
  • Risk management
  • Program reviews and gap analysis
  • (controls, policies & procedures, incidents / correctives actions management)
  • Enhanced Due Diligence
  • Stakeholder relationship management
  • People/performance management and coaching
  • Working knowledge of Regulations such Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act/Regulations (PCMLTFA/R)
  • FINTRAC guidelines
  • OFAC Screenings
  • Advanced understanding of a range of financial products and services and their associated risks
  • Technical working knowledge of various software applications such as Microsoft Office suite (Excel, PowerPoint, Word)
  • Oracle
  • Bridger
  • Hummingbird
  • Actimize
  • Open-pages
  • Factiva
  • World check
  • Salesforce
  • Staff Development
  • Performance Management
  • Operations Management
  • Strategic Planning
  • Policy Implementation
  • Cross-Functional Teamwork
  • Project Management
  • Time Management

Affiliations

  • Member of Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist Toronto Chapter
  • Member of Canadian Association of Urban Financial Professionals (CAUFP)

Websites

Certification

Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS)

Volunteer Experience

  • Mentor – Toronto Compliance & AML Enterprise (TCAE)
  • Community Tax Volunteer - CRA

Timeline

Manager, Corporate Security

PwC Canada
11.2022 - Current

Operations/Delivery Manager (North America) Financial Crimes Regulatory Compliance

IBM - Promontory Financial Group
01.2022 - 09.2022

Senior Consultant, Financial Crimes and Risk Management Practice (Contract)

KPMG
07.2021 - 01.2022

Senior AML/Risk & Compliance Consultant

IBM - Promontory Financial Group(PFG)
02.2018 - 07.2021

Operations Officer III (Account Investigations)

TD Canada Trust
10.2017 - 02.2018

Trust Administrator (Trade/Securities AML/ Risk & Compliance)

Bank of New York Mellon
05.2017 - 09.2017

Risk Compliance quality Assurance Specialist (Regulatory Reporting)

Man Capital Partners
06.2015 - 12.2016

Retail Operations Officer (AML/ Risk & Compliance)

Barclays Bank Plc
08.2012 - 11.2014

Compliance Officer (Real Estate Finance)

Assenta Property Group
08.2008 - 12.2010

Black Leadership Institute on Social Action for Change Program -

Skills for Change

Operations Management -

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Master's Degree in International Banking and Finance -

University of Salford Manchester

BSC Land Economy -

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology

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Akosua Demanya