Stephen Ogunlami
Markham,Canada
Summary
Experienced professional in governance, risk management, and compliance within the finance sector, including banking and real estate. Strong understanding of regulatory requirements and a track record of developing and implementing effective compliance programs. Skilled in data analysis, reporting, and the use of GRC tools like MetricStream and Workiva. Successful in developing and executing risk-based compliance plans, fostering collaboration and continuous improvement, and communicating effectively with stakeholders at all levels.
Overview
21
21
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Director, Compliance
GWL Realty Advisors Inc.
11.2020 - Current
- Provide support to the business on the development and implementation of Compliance Program
- Offer opinions, oversight and constructive challenge to business partners to ensure decisions are consistent with the risk appetite of the company
- Support the regulatory compliance monitoring program by conducting ongoing compliance testing, monitoring, and reporting on the adequacy and effectiveness of regulatory compliance controls
- Review, monitor, and assess compliance policies, procedures, and programs in the business units through regular reports, targeted program reviews, self-assessments, and attestation requests
- Prepare and coordinate the quarterly operational risk management and compliance reports on noncompliance matters, litigations, liabilities, business initiatives, regulators' exams, and tax-related non-compliance issues across the company's various business units
- Conduct a regulatory compliance risk assessment on new business initiatives (including significant changes in regulatory changes, etc.,), working closely with various business stakeholders in developing mitigation actions/plans
- Monitor and report on Provincial and Federal regulatory compliance developments and assess how they impact the business now and in the future
- Develop and manage company-wide complaint-handling guidelines and protocols that highlight the process to follow and the SMEs to contact when handling customers' complaints
- Design protocol and workflow for disclosing and reporting Outside Business Activities, and identify other opportunities for improvement to processes, procedures, and guidelines
- Identify trends and/or gaps across businesses and report trends, findings and observations with recommendations on how to improve the effectiveness of internal controls
- Coordinate compliance activities to provide support and guidance on employee conduct compliance in areas of responding to regulators, conflicts of interest, gifts and entertainment, outside business activities, complaint handling and internal event reporting and error review process
- Prepare and coordinate the reporting of all bi-annual and annual compliance and risk reporting such as Inherent Risk Assessment (IRA) reporting, Risk and Control Assessment (RCA) reporting, etc
Manager, Risk Mgnt and Compliance
GWL Realty Advisors
01.2020 - 10.2020
- Accountable and responsible for the day-to-day delivery of risk management, governance, and compliance services
- Conducted risk and control assessment within the company which involves identifying, measuring, managing, monitoring, and reporting risks
- Provided support to the risk owners to ensure that key risk indicators (KRI) effectively monitor main risk drivers
- Monitored and analyzed key risk indicators (KRIs) to identify changes or trends in the IT risk profile
- Review, monitor, and assess compliance policies, procedures, and programs in the business units through regular reports, targeted program reviews, self-assessments, and attestation requests
- Participated in a software conversion project tagged 'Project Cornerstone' and acted as the compliance representative by providing regulatory guidance for the implementation of changes and ensuring proper escalation of compliance risks
- Maintained project risk register to capture current and emerging project risks, mitigation plans, and risk owners
- Drafted and updated key compliance documentation, including policies, procedures, and compliance manuals
Property Accountant
Capital Property Management Inc.
06.2019 - 10.2019
- Managed outstanding account receivables, and monitored existing account receivables to guide against the risk of bad debt
- Managed financial records of 12 commercial buildings; reconciled various General Ledgers (GL) and balance sheet accounts for accurate financial reporting
- Prepared and reviewed year-end cost recoveries reconciliation (such as common area costs and tax recoveries reconciliation) to ensure tenants are accurately billed for services rendered
- Posted invoices and journal entries, and processed accounts payable and account receivables
- Handled monthly bank reconciliation, raised journal entries as necessary, and maintained amortization schedules
- Liaised with the City of Winnipeg in determining property tax value; confirmed the tax installment payment plans (TIPP) and ensured that building bank accounts were funded to accommodate the TIPP
Head, Internal Audit
CMB Building Maintenance and Investment Co Ltd
07.2017 - 03.2019
- Developed the Internal Audit Charter and Risk Based Internal Audit Manual that provided a direction on how the Internal Audit function operated thereby allowing the Executive Management to clearly understand the roles of the Internal Audit function and the value of objectivity and independence
- Conducted regular assessments of the effectiveness of existing controls and considered the need for new or additional controls
- Ensured appropriateness of the Company's approach in mitigating operational, financial, and reputational risk
- Reviewed the effectiveness of finance operations covering tax returns and regulatory filings, budgeting, variance analysis reports, and subsidiaries reporting
- Supervised the audit of the various business units' operational, financial, and compliance records to ensure they comply with organizational policies and applicable regulations
- Provided management with an independent and objective evaluation of the control environment and assured the control system's effectiveness
- Prepared quarterly internal audit reports for Senior Management attention
- Designed and implemented a risk management policy for the company which focused mainly on the inherent and control risks in the industry with special emphasis on the company
- Managed risk to ensure that appropriate risk management processes and reporting are in place
- Managed a team of professional auditors and site resident control officers that enabled continued, high-quality audit coverage
Head, Financial Reporting
CMB Building Maintenance and Investment Co Ltd
11.2015 - 07.2017
- Led the financial performance and reporting function and supervised a team of 10 finance professionals, and managed annual budgets in excess of N800m (i.e., $800,000)
- Prepared monthly and year-to-date financial statements; managed financial records and reconciled the various GL and balance sheet accounts for accurate financial reporting
- Prepared annual budget with information from the various business units and aligned the company's goal for the year to serve as a financial guide for spending and measuring performance
- Prepared variance analysis report monthly to highlight the deviation of the company's performance from the budget; investigated the causes of the variances and suggested areas for improvement
- Analyzed, examined, and interpreted financial data, especially revenue and expenditure trends, to identify operational and financial performance opportunities
- Developed and implemented financial strategies that increased company revenue by 15%
- Ensured compliance with tax regulations, accounting standards and internal policies
- Optimized cash management strategies that ensured average positive cash flow increase across major revenue generating units
Deputy Head, Internal Audit
CMB Building Maintenance and Investment Co Ltd
08.2014 - 10.2015
- Initiated and managed audits that included financial, operational, compliance, and information technology audits, and the results of the audits were used to manage risks and develop effective and efficient business processes
- Analyzed audit report findings, and suggested interventions and practical solutions appropriately
- Prepared the annual audit plans and presented them to the Head, of Internal Audit and Risk Management for approval, and monitored the implementation of the audit plan
- Developed detailed audit programs for different audit areas, tracked internal audit KPIs on a biannual basis, and outlined action plans for continuous improvement of the internal audit function
- Prepared concise and timely audit reports that identified control weaknesses and related risks, and suggested practicable recommendations to improve controls and operational efficiency
- Conducted prompt investigation into fraud and forgery cases with timely issuance of reports
- Ensured that all financial transactions were checked for accuracy, reasonableness, and authorization
- Collected and reviewed information regarding the organization's internal and external business and environments to identify the potential risk and its impacts on business objectives and operations
Head, SME Finance
Inflow Synergy Solutions Limited
04.2012 - 07.2014
- Developed and implemented a credit risk assessment framework that resulted in a 10% improvement in risk profile
- Established and led quarterly credit review meetings that contributed to strategic planning which led to a 25% reduction in credit losses
- Reviewed credit/loan applications and supporting documents to determine the customers' creditworthiness, repayment capacity, and available collateral to support the loan amounts
- Analyzed credit information and financial statements to determine the risks involved in lending to customers and the customer's ability to repay
- Followed up with account receivables (via calls, emails, and visits) to pay up their outstanding debts or agree on a payment plan with the customers and ensure there were no breaches
- Made appropriate recommendations for interest waivers for customers' debts based on customers' financial position and condition
Senior Auditor, Internal Audit Group
Access Bank Plc
10.2005 - 02.2012
- Planned and led audit activities of the operational, financial, technological, and compliance records of branches and head office departments/business areas of the Bank to ensure their activities follow the Bank's policies and applicable regulations
- Tested controls in branch operations and head office departments to confirm the adequacy and effectiveness of existing controls
- Provided subject matter expertise for planning, risk assessment and implementation of audits and related processes
- Participated in identifying, designing, testing and implementing a wide range of complex audit initiatives
- Led audit communication and the reporting process with the business areas and senior management that highlighted control gaps with related risks and suggested practicable recommendations to improve controls and operational efficiency for the Bank
- Reviewed Access control policies and procedures, requests and approvals on core banking applications and other applications used in the Bank
- Used advanced knowledge of Microsoft Office suite and other business/audit-related software to conduct internal audit work and extract relevant data and its analysis using the ACL software
- Reported on the performance of changes to, or trends in the overall risk profile and control environment to relevant stakeholders to enable decision making
- Led special projects as directed by the Senior Management (e.g
- Bank-wide ATM differences reconciliation, Bank-wide credit review etc.)
Resident Auditor/AML Analyst
Gateway Bank Plc
09.2003 - 09.2005
- Conducted daily cash count and reconciled with the vault register balance and systems balance, and also ensured that the cash balance was within the insured limit
- Reviewed call-over of posted transactions by the branch operations staff
- Reviewed branch funds transfer and treasury operations, as well as Reviewed the General Ledger proof of accounts and branch reconciliation statements monthly
- Ensured daily monitoring and reporting of the performance of all approved credit facilities and any unauthorized facilities
- Performed customer due diligence (CDD) and enhanced due diligence (EDD) on customers in line with the Bank's policy to comply with global AML regulations
- Reviewed account opening documentation and reactivation processes to ensure they comply with the KYC policy of the Bank
- Analysed sources of customers' wealth and created a source of wealth narrative as a key requirement for KYC/KYCB
- Investigated and reported all incidents of fraud and forgeries
Education
Master of Science (Hons) - Accounting and Finance
Robert Gordon University
06.2023
Bachelor of Arts (Hons) - Accounting and Finance
University of Derby
Derby01.2015
Higher National Diploma (HND) - Business Administration
Federal Polytechnic Ilaro
Ilaro, Ogun State11.1998
Skills
- Regulatory Compliance
- Risk and Control Assessment
- Risk Management
- Regulatory Change Management
- Internal Control Frameworks
- Internal Auditing
- Process Improvement
- Data Analysis & Reporting
- Data Protection and Privacy
- Leadership and Team Development
- Compliance Program Design
- Stakeholder Management
Languages
English
Elementary
Certification
- Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), 06/01/21
- Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC), 01/01/21
- Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CGA), Manitoba, Canada, 08/01/19
- Associate Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA), United Kingdom, 11/01/15
- Associate Chartered Accountant (ACA), Nigeria, 04/01/04
Timeline
Director, Compliance
GWL Realty Advisors Inc.
11.2020 - Current
Manager, Risk Mgnt and Compliance
GWL Realty Advisors
01.2020 - 10.2020
Property Accountant
Capital Property Management Inc.
06.2019 - 10.2019
Head, Internal Audit
CMB Building Maintenance and Investment Co Ltd
07.2017 - 03.2019
Head, Financial Reporting
CMB Building Maintenance and Investment Co Ltd
11.2015 - 07.2017
Deputy Head, Internal Audit
CMB Building Maintenance and Investment Co Ltd
08.2014 - 10.2015
Head, SME Finance
Inflow Synergy Solutions Limited
04.2012 - 07.2014
Senior Auditor, Internal Audit Group
Access Bank Plc
10.2005 - 02.2012
Resident Auditor/AML Analyst
Gateway Bank Plc
09.2003 - 09.2005
Master of Science (Hons) - Accounting and Finance
Robert Gordon University
Bachelor of Arts (Hons) - Accounting and Finance
University of Derby
Higher National Diploma (HND) - Business Administration
Federal Polytechnic Ilaro
- Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), 06/01/21
- Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC), 01/01/21
- Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CGA), Manitoba, Canada, 08/01/19
- Associate Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA), United Kingdom, 11/01/15
- Associate Chartered Accountant (ACA), Nigeria, 04/01/04
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