Women in Sanctions

Women in Sanctions

UK Finance is delighted to welcome and collaborate with women working in sanctions internationally under this great initiative which is growing from strength to strength with now over 500 women registered from a wide range of cross-industry sectors including, banking and finance, oil and gas, maritime, pharmaceuticals, government, and advisory.

With the vast array of seniority levels, Women in Sanctions is the key forum to candidly meet, discuss, benchmark best practices and network with peers and allies on a quarterly basis. The forum is open to all industry sectors to join. Benefits are provided by UK Finance to facilitate a productive and transparent sanctions environment. To join the Women in Sanctions distribution list or to collaborate under this great initiative contact us via womeninsanctions@ukfinance.org.uk.

OBJECTIVES

  1. To provide a platform for like-minded women, promoting diversity and inclusion across the sanctions profession.
  2. To share expertise, provide leadership skills, supporting each other’s growth, and celebrating achievements together.
  3. To create worthwhile networking, supporting advancement opportunities and education.

BENEFITS OF FORUM

 

Committee Thought Leadership Quarterly Meetings Podcasts
Educational Training Guest blog opportunities Mentor/Mentee Scheme Technical briefings

 

Expertise Integrity Development
A forum for information sharing and mutual knowledge exchange. Discuss matters concerning sanctions in a Chatham House Rule setting. Join leaders and experts in establishing common and best practice. Ensure consistent upholding of values key to the sanctions environment. Offering educational and training outlets for all career levels to ensure constant learning and development in all areas of financial crime.

Founder

Anila Haleem, Principal Sanctions & Export Controls, UK Finance

Anila Haleem

 

“We work best together for effective sanctions compliance.”

Anila is a qualified Barrister at Law, responsible for advancing work in respect to the breadth of sanctions regimes and implementation at UK Finance, the collective voice for the banking and finance industry. Winner of the 2023 ICA Awards, Anila is recognised and celebrated as the Founder of the Women in Sanctions Forum and Co-host of the UK Finance Sanctions School podcast series, regularly bridging the gap as a generational leader promoting Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.

CHAIRS

Sara Cerminara, Compliance Manager FCRM & Sanctions, KAYAK

Sara Cerminara

 

"Believe in the power of compliance to drive positive change."

Anti-money Laundering and Sanctions professional with a background gained over ten years across several sectors, including e-commerce, financial services, banking, payments and corporate. Sara has recently joined Kayak and OpenTable managing and evolving their financial crime and sanctions compliance programmes. Previously she spent five years at GlaxoSmithKline leading and building their sanctions compliance framework and capabilities, a role that has allowed her to develop valuable experience in managing various stakeholder groups across the organisation, mastering resilience through the delivery of key sanctions compliance changes.

DEPUTY CHAIR

Victoria Turner, Principal Associate, Eversheds

 

Victoria Turner

Victoria is a Principal Associate in the Corporate Crime and Investigations Team at Eversheds Sutherland (International) LLP. Her specific areas of expertise are financial sanctions and anti-money laundering ("AML").

With over 10 years of experience, Victoria is a highly regarded specialist in areas of AML, international financial sanctions, internal investigations and remediation.  She primarily advises a range of global top tier financial institutions and corporate entities and also has extensive experience in respect of criminal and regulatory investigations, prosecutions/enforcement and self-disclosure in the context of sanctions violations.

Victoria has experience in:

• leading on large scale investigations in respect of potential US, EU and UK sanctions violations, working internationally across the US and UK;
• providing strategic advice to a range of multinationals and financial institutions regarding sanctions and AML policies and procedures;
• providing strategic advice regarding sanctions and AML remediation programmes;
• conducting independent audits and risk assessments upon AML and sanctions control frameworks;
• defending claims made under the Equality Act in so far as they relate to actions taken in alleged compliance with financial sanctions; and
• advising on the day-today application of sanctions in the context of financial transactions and arrangements.

Victoria co-authored a chapter on sanctions compliance programmes for GIR's "Guide to Sanctions" and speaks at industry events regarding sanctions compliance.

 

WOMEN IN SANCTIONS COMMITTEE

Zahra Mashhood, Associate, Skadden

 

Zahra Mashhood

Zahra Mashhood is an Associate in the Government Enforcement and White-Collar Crime Team at the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom (UK) LLP, based in London. Her practice focuses on cross-border investigations, both regulatory and internal, in relation to sanctions, fraud, bribery, corruption, money laundering and competition breaches. She has assisted corporations and individuals in proceedings brought by the U.K. Serious Fraud Office, Financial Conduct Authority, Competition and Markets Authority, Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, as well as the U.S. Department of Justice, Department of Financial Services and Securities and Exchange Commission, and other international regulators. She also assists clients with reviewing and updating corporate compliance programs,

and has advised on bribery, corruption and money laundering matters, particularly regarding compliance with the U.K. Bribery Act and the Proceeds of Crime Act. With respect to sanctions, she advises on EU and U.K. sanctions advisory matters, internal and regulatory investigations, sanctions in the due diligence, M&A, private equity and banking contexts, sanctions licensing applications, and sanctions training and compliance programs. In 2022, Zahra was named to the inaugural edition of Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in the United Kingdom.

 

Shereen George, Head of Sanctions, BNP Paribas

 

Shereen George

“Sanctions compliance has never been more complex, fast-paced and challenging, honoured to be part of such an amazing community to share, learn and grow.”

Starting her career as a trader and then following her passion of geo-political topics into compliance and Sanctions for over fifteen years at a number of investment banks. Experience of the breadth of sanctions compliance framework topics.

 

Lotte Penne, Senior Sanctions Specialist, Standard Chartered Bank

 

Lotte Penney

Lotte joined Standard Chartered in May 2021 as a Director in the Group Sanctions Team and leads on monitoring applicable global sanctions laws and regulations, drafting sanctions policies and standards for the bank, and providing technical advice on business and transactional matters. Prior to joining Standard Chartered, Lotte was at Barclays bank where she drafted and provided guidance on the bank’s Financial Crime Policy and Standards.

 

Dara Fernandez, General Counsel, Trade Sanctions (EMEA), Honeywell

 

Dara Fernandes

“In a truly connected world, sanctions compliance is a key element of the business’ sustainability.”

Currently the Global Head of Financial Crime for Bupa, Dara leads the financial crime risk management prevention agenda for the organization with a special

focus on providing senior SME sanctions advice. Dara is a US qualified lawyer who has worked both in law firms and in house, having devoted much of her time in the last 9 years to sanctions compliance in the US, UK, and globally.

 

Natalie Quest, Head of Sanctions & AML, Marsh McLennan

 

Natalie Quest

Natalie has worked at Marsh McLennan for over 11 years covering the full range of financial crime risks including anti-bribery and corruption, money laundering and trade sanctions.  Natalie is now Head of Sanctions & AML, responsible for the company’s sanctions and AML framework and providing advice to the business on the many and increasingly complex sanctions that may affect our company globally. Marsh McLennan’s services include insurance broking, health and benefits and management consultancy so sanctions questions are frequent and varied.

Previous jobs in communications and change management have provided an invaluable background for work on the many financial crime developments over recent years, such as implementing new anti-bribery laws and managing the increasing numbers of complex trade sanctions and export control regulations.  

 

Sinead Goss, Managing Director, EMEA Head, Sanctions, AML and Anti-Bribery Legal, Citi

 

Sinead Goss

Sinéad Goss is the General Counsel for AML, Anti-Bribery and Sanctions Legal in the EMEA region at Citi. Having originally trained and qualified as a corporate solicitor she joined Citi in 2007 as the EMEA Head, Investment Banking Legal. Sinéad fulfilled this role for 7 years before moving into her current role in 2014. She provides legal advice to the bank on complex AML, Anti-bribery and sanctions issues across the region, including both advisory and investigations work. 

 

Fiki Bailey, Global Financial Crime Manager, Aviva Investors

 

Fiki Bailey​​​​​​

“Are sanctions the modern world’s war? Some argue that it is a war, not an alternative to it. And they may be right, whether you are holding a gun or imposing financial sanctions, it is at the end of the day civilians who suffer from the brutal impact of it. Whatever people’s views, sanctions are and have been successful in changing behaviour of authoritarian governments in the past and by working together to make them more targeted and meaningful, they can be a credible alternative to war.”

Before joining Aviva Investors and the fight of wider financial crime in July 2017, Fiki was already enjoying fighting crime in general insurance side of business tackling fraud for 10 years for commercial property claims. Since joining the team, Fiki has qualified and is a member of Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists and has also gained Certificate of Global Sanctions Specialist.

 

During her time in AI, she has also been involved in projects in implementing new system of records for customer onboarding and risk assessment and due diligence of third parties, working with a number of stakeholders across AI and wider Aviva. Outside of work, she enjoys simpler things in life such as spending time with her family and her two cheeky Jack Russells. In addition, she loves reading, enjoying good food and wine and has discovered a painful passion in running to eliminate the effects of the wine and dine!

 

Lucy Callaghan, Executive Director - Legal and Compliance, Morgan Stanley

 

Lucy Callaghan 2

Lucy started her career as a litigator at Clifford Chance.  For the last decade she has been in-house at Morgan Stanley as the Financial Crimes Legal Counsel. Her practice started with a focus on Anti-Corruption, now more recently focused on Economic Sanctions legal and advisory work.

 

Quarterly Forums

 

Mentor Mentee Programme

 

The UK Finance Women in Sanctions forum is free and open to all industry sectors to join. Benefits are provided by UK Finance to facilitate a productive and transparent sanctions environment. To join the Women in Sanctions distribution list or to collaborate under this great initiative contact us via sanctions@ukfinance.org.uk.

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