Jim Richards

After 30+ years as an attorney, prosecutor, and BSA Officer, it was time to take that experience and help others. Whether you’re a BSA Officer or AML Officer looking to take your career to the next level (and add value to your firm’s program), or you’re a small, local bank or a multinational financial institution, a marijuana/cannabis business, a FinTech start-up, or a venture capital firm looking to assess any of these, talk to us today about how we can build, support and enhance your financial crimes program.

James R. Richards, B.Comm., JD, CAMS

Author, “Transnational Criminal Organizations, Cybercrime, and Money Laundering” (CRC Press, New York, London, Boca Raton, ISBN 0-8493-2806-3)

October 2005 – April 2018: BSA Officer, Global Head of Financial Crimes Risk Management, Wells Fargo & Co. – As BSA Officer, responsible for governance and program oversight of Bank Secrecy Act and AML for Wells Fargo’s global operations, including quarterly reporting to the Board of Directors. As Director of the Global Financial Crimes Risk Management group, responsible for governance and program execution of BSA, AML, External Fraud, Global Sanctions, Financial Crimes Analytics, and High-Risk Customer Due Diligence. Member of the Wells Fargo Management Committee and Enterprise Risk Management Committee. Represented Wells Fargo with the Bank Secrecy Act Advisory Group (BSAAG), US Department of the Treasury.

2004 – 2005: Global Anti-Money Laundering Operations Executive, Bank of America – Responsible for the operational aspects of Bank of America’s global anti-money laundering and terrorist financing prevention monitoring, surveillance, investigations and related SAR reporting. Represented Bank of America with the BSAAG.

1999 – 2004: BSA Officer, Director of Financial Intelligence Unit, FleetBoston Financial Group – Director of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), responsible for all terrorist financing and money laundering investigations and related SAR filings for domestic and international bank and non-bank subsidiaries of FleetBoston Financial.  The FIU included the Credit Due Diligence Review Group, responsible for conducting all front-end due diligence reviews, back-end work-out assistance, and ongoing transactional monitoring for all non-scored credit relationships. Represented FleetBoston with the BSAAG. From 2002 – 2005 was a founding member of the Association of Certified Anti—Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS) Advisory Board. In May 2004 provided written and oral testimony on behalf of Bank of America before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations:“Improving Financial Oversight: A Private Sector View of Anti-Money Laundering Efforts” (May 18, 2004)

October, 1998 – Author, “Transnational Criminal Organizations, Cybercrime, and Money Laundering” (CRC Press, New York, London, Boca Raton, ISBN 0-8493-2806-3)

1994 – 1999: Assistant District Attorney, Special Investigations Unit, Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office, Cambridge, MA – The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) was responsible for the investigation and prosecution of narcotics, organized crime, white-collar crime, and economic crime in Middlesex County, the largest county in Massachusetts.  Investigations and prosecutions included felony embezzlement, attorney fraud, public corruption, computer-based larceny, gambling, money laundering, and organized gambling cases.  Supervisor of the SIU’s Narcotics Forfeiture Group, with carriage of and supervision over the Group’s civil and criminal forfeiture caseload.

1992 – 1994: Associate Attorney, Choate, Hall & Stewart, Boston, MA – Associate in Choate, Hall’s litigation department.  Appearances before state and federal courts for pre-trials, trials, and summary judgment hearings.  Practice focused on insurance fraud, environmental insurance coverage litigation, and white-collar criminal defense (including RICO, asset forfeiture, and medical device fraud).

1986 – 1992: Barrister, Ontario, Canada – Barrister with the Hamilton, Ontario law firm of Turkstra, Mazza and with the Ottawa firm of Soloway, Wright.  Practice in both firms focused on commercial and criminal litigation.

1985: Special Constable, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, E Division (British Columbia)