Brian O'Donoghue

Brian is a director in our Business Risk Services practice with 25 years of experience, specialising in anti-money laundering (AML), financial crime, and regulatory frameworks, as well as governance, risk, and compliance.

He is CAMS-certified and has extensive experience in AML, regulatory compliance, governance, MiFID, client assets, operational risk, audits, and C-suite and board reporting.

Previous experience highlights

• Director of an AML remediation project for a global financial institution covering both traditional and alternative investments. He managed multiple teams, including external consultancy firms, overseeing AML/KYC remediation across two departments with multiple systems and a large customer base. Brian added significant value by proposing updates to policies, procedures, controls, training, and process optimisation.
• Former Chief Risk Officer (CRO) and Head of Client Assets at a MiFID EU-regulated investment firm (regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland), where he held Regulatory PCF roles 15 and 45.
• Former Head of Compliance and MLRO at a sports betting company with a 24/7 account opening model, global customers, and multi-jurisdictional operations. He has extensive experience in navigating rapidly changing regulatory environments, including the UK Gambling Commission and Alderney Gambling Control Commission. He successfully led a significant KYC remediation project, preventing large fines and licence forfeiture. Managing a team of 10 with a €1m+ budget, he conducted a KYC gap analysis, implemented key improvements, and achieved external audit validation. He also completed regulatory audits and spearheaded an algorithm project to predict problem gamblers. Brian held regulatory approval as Head of Compliance.
• Former Head of Risk & Compliance at a RegTech ID verification SaaS company (Valid8Me), where he provided subject matter expertise on EU and international AML frameworks. He successfully achieved ISO 27001 certification through external audit validation by implementing relevant policies, procedures, controls, and ongoing monitoring. Brian also established a robust risk framework, including a risk policy, risk committee, risk register, internal audit processes, and regulatory research.