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Jim Richards is the principal and founder of RegTech Consulting LLC, providing strategic advice on all aspects of financial crimes risk management. He is also a Senior Advisor to Verafin Inc., the leading provider of fraud detection and BSA/AML collaboration software for financial institutions in North America.

Most recently (2005-2018), Richards served as the BSA Officer and Director of Global Financial Crimes Risk Management for Wells Fargo & Co. As BSA officer, he was responsible for governance, training, and program oversight for BSA, anti-money laundering (AML), and sanctions for Wells Fargo’s global operations. As Director of Global Financial Crimes Risk Management, he was responsible for execution of BSA, AML, counter-terrorist financing (CTF), external fraud, global sanctions, financial crimes analytics, and high-risk customer due diligence.

Prior to his role with Wells Fargo, Richards was the AML operations executive at Bank of America. There, he was responsible for the operational aspects of Bank of America’s global AML and CTF monitoring, surveillance, investigations, and related SAR reporting.

Prior to his 20-year career in banking, Richards was a prosecutor in Massachusetts, a barrister in Ontario, Canada, and a Special Constable with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. He is the author of “Transnational Criminal Organizations, Cybercrime, and Money Laundering.”

Richards has a Bachelor of Commerce (B.Comm.) degree and Juris Doctorate from the University of British Columbia. He lives and works in the Bay Area and can be reached at [email protected].