First, I’d like to pay a personal tribute to our previous President, Bill Howarth, whose vision, inspirational energy, and acumen have been at the core of the success of ICA as we see it in 2023. Bill’s work has built a great legacy and I know you will join me in wishing him a fantastic (semi) retirement. Bill you are a true legend!
Bill has left ICA in an amazing place. In my 16 years as part of ICA, I have seen us grow from a UK-focussed business with two qualifications to a truly global body driving best practice in the compliance community. I would also like to pay tribute to all my ICA colleagues who have in the past and today continue to make ICA an amazing organisation of which we can all be proud.
A little about me
In my time at ICA, I have developed industry partnerships and academic standards at ICA. My roles have taken me across public and private sectors, financial institutions and other regulated firms, gaming, FinTech and RegTech companies, regulators, and law enforcement. Given this view across industries and jurisdictions I have shared best practice and trends in managing financial crime and compliance risks. I have also had the honour of leading the ICA training faculty and delivering training in compliance and financial crime prevention all over the globe.
In industry, I have held roles as MLRO for a multinational financial services firm and a senior financial crime role in a UK high street bank. These roles involved managing AML, sanctions, and fraud risk. I am a lawyer qualified in the UK and New Zealand, where I conducted prosecutions for tax evasion and organised crime groups, and complex frauds.
So, what about the future of ICA?
Having engaged with ICA members across the world in my travels, I know there is a huge pool of talent and goodwill for ICA, to help us shape the modern profession of compliance.
What is striking is that whether you are a compliance professional in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa or the Americas, the challenges, and opportunities we face are very much the same. The key point is that we can and must learn from each other and share good practice.
We are in an age when what “compliance” means and stands for is fundamentally changing. Driving this change (amongst other things) is technology (AI et al), ESG, and Public- Private Partnerships (PPP). These areas are of course interconnected. We must not forget that we want our organisations to be compliant not merely because the law or regulation compels us but that rather being compliant leads to fairer and better societies, and more successful and sustainable businesses.
The ICA needs you to help manage these huge opportunities. From our Global Practitioners Advisory Board to ICA events online, in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, you can contribute to ICA by developing powerful connections with fellow members and compliance leaders of today and the future. Come and talk to us with your ideas and views. I am always delighted to hear from members on LinkedIn and through other channels.
The past few years have seen game changing partnerships, both public-private and between firms. In this regard I am keen to ensure that ICA continues to develop partnerships with NGOs and public bodies, to FATF style regional bodies and development banks, ICA can also be a force for positive change.
In the next few months, I will be travelling across the Asia Pacific region before returning to Europe later in the year. Whether it’s through our regular weekly ICA member webinars, briefing events, hot topics session or conferences do come and say hello. I look forward to working with you all to help shape the future of ICA and the compliance profession around the world.
Pekka Dare
President, ICA