Ryan Micallef
Summary
Financial Crime and Transaction Monitoring professional with 7 years experience across fintech, banking and wealth management, specialising in transaction monitoring, sanctions screening, PEP risk and complex investigations. Proven track record of exercising sound risk-based judgement, drafting high-quality SARs and advising stakeholders on regulatory expectations. Experienced in identifying emerging typologies and strengthening controls to mitigate financial crime risk in regulated environments.
Overview
8
8
years of professional experience
2023
2023
years of post-secondary education
Work history
Financial Crime Analyst
Rathbones (Formally Investec Wealth & Investment
2023.04 - 2026.02
- Act as subject matter expert for politically exposed persons (PEPs), owning and maintaining the firm’s PEP register and providing guidance to front office and compliance teams on PEP risk, onboarding decisions, and ongoing monitoring.
- Conduct daily transaction monitoring analysis on private and corporate customers across varying risk profiles, applying risk-based judgement to identify suspicious activity and escalate matters in accordance with AML/CTF requirements.
- Perform daily sanctions screening in line with OFSI, OFAC and other applicable sanctions regimes, accurately resolving alerts and discounting false positives to mitigate regulatory and reputational risk.
- Represent the firm at external financial crime forums and industry working groups to stay informed on regulatory developments and best practices.
- Oversee in-depth analysis of corporate and trust structures (e.g. offshore entities, nominee shareholders, and trustees) ensuring transparency of beneficial ownership in line with regulatory standards.
- Actioning of Periodic Reviews, assessing whether a client’s risk rating remains appropriate based on a number of factors, including jurisdiction and potential involvement in a high risk industry.
- Own horizon scanning for financial crime risk, proactively identifying emerging threats, regulatory expectations and typologies, and advising stakeholders on potential impacts to controls, monitoring and risk appetite.
- Merged with Rathbones following a takeover in 2025
Financial Crime Investigator
Monese
2021.03 - 2023.02
- Investigated potential financial crime across individual and business accounts, analysing transaction monitoring alerts and KYC deficiencies to identify money laundering, fraud and related criminal activity.
- Drafted high-quality Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs), preparing clear investigative rationales and submitting disclosures to relevant authorities including the NCA, as well as international FIUs.
- Identified and escalated emerging money laundering and fraud typologies, contributing insights to improve transaction monitoring rules and reduce repeat criminal activity across the business.
- Conducted investigation into a wide range of fraud types, including organised money laundering, tax evasion, account misuse, illegal employment, solicitation, gambling-related offences and complex fraud schemes.
- Performed urgent reviews of high-risk customers, including exposure to high-risk jurisdictions and politically exposed persons (PEPs), applying enhanced due diligence and risk-based judgement.
- Liaised with law enforcement and external stakeholders, responding to police enquiries and supporting investigations involving high-risk and vulnerable customer cases.
- Supported the training and onboarding of new investigators, providing guidance on investigative standards, typologies and internal processes.
- Maintaining consistently high quality assurance scores by staying aligned with current Money Laundering regulations and company processes.
AML/FCP Operations Associate
SS&C
2018.04 - 2021.03
- Verified both private and corporate clients; reviewing AML documentation, running Experian checks and liaising with the management companies if required.
- Reviewed a wide range of emails and replying with complete, accurate findings to allow other teams to carry out their job seamlessly.
- Issued correspondence to chase for outstanding documentation for clients.
- Worked within set timeframes generating courteous and informative responses to account queries.
- Quality checked other team member’s work and completing feedback forms as necessary.
- Assisted with the training of new team members, and continuing to assist them with queries.
- Followed the Joint Money Laundering Steering Group (JMLSG) guidelines to ensure all corporate clients are verified efficiently and correctly.
- Raised Suspicious Activity Reports (SAR’s) where necessary to ensure the safety of our clients finances.
- Reviewed and updated clients Source of Wealth and Source of Funds forms where required.
Legal and Residency Associate
SS&C
2017.09 - 2018.04
- Adhered to financial regulations related to FATCA & CRS, contacting investors requesting relevant tax information
- Maintained client data and making relevant updates
- Updated Corporate Clients tax residency status and ensuring the information is up to date and legitimate.
Education
NVQ Level 2 - Investment Operations
SS&C
A Levels - History - B, Law - B, English Literature - C
Mayflower High School
2014.01 - 2016.01
AS Levels - EPQ - B
Mayflower High School
GCSE’s - 11 GCSE’s at grades A-C (including English and Maths)
Mayflower High School
Skills
- Transaction Monitoring & Investigations - individual & corporate customers; risk-based alert disposition and escalation
- Suspicious Activity Reporting (SARs) - drafting clear investigative rationales and disclosures
- Sanctions & PEP Screening - OFSI, OFAC; enhanced due diligence and ongoing monitoring
- Financial Crime Typologies - money laundering, fraud, tax evasion, account misuse, cross-border risk
- Regulatory Awareness - FCA expectations, AML/CTF requirements, horizon scanning
- Stakeholder & Law Enforcement Liaison (internal teams, compliance, external authorities)
- High-Volume / Time-Critical Case Management - SLAs, prioritisation, quality assurance
- Systems - World-Check, Dow Jones, Oracle, Safewatch, Microsoft Excel, Word
Timeline
Financial Crime Analyst
Rathbones (Formally Investec Wealth & Investment
2023.04 - 2026.02
Financial Crime Investigator
Monese
2021.03 - 2023.02
AML/FCP Operations Associate
SS&C
2018.04 - 2021.03
Legal and Residency Associate
SS&C
2017.09 - 2018.04
A Levels - History - B, Law - B, English Literature - C
Mayflower High School
2014.01 - 2016.01
AS Levels - EPQ - B
Mayflower High School
GCSE’s - 11 GCSE’s at grades A-C (including English and Maths)
Mayflower High School
NVQ Level 2 - Investment Operations
SS&C