Mike Walters

Mike Walters helps our financial services clients navigate complex risk, financial crime and regulatory compliance issues and helps transform their risk and compliance capabilities in the face of regulatory-driven change.

Mike was a Partner at two of the Big 4, and he was the Global Head of Compliance and Regulatory Affairs for Barclays Bank for eight years. Mike was seconded to the Enforcement Division of the UK regulators, in which role he managed a portfolio of FSA investigations into regulated firms. Mike has wide experience of forensic, regulatory, financial crime and investigation work, having led many high-profile global matters during his more than 30-year career.

Mike was previously the Head of the Financial Risk Management practice of a Big 4 firm, in which role he led a variety of governance, risk and compliance reviews for clients in the banking, insurance and asset management sectors, including s166 Skilled Person reviews.

From 2006 until 2013, Mike led the compliance function at Barclays. He covered all compliance risks globally, including suitability, conflicts of interest, cross border, whistleblowing, data privacy, anti-money laundering, sanctions, anti-bribery and corruption, gifts and entertaining and personal account dealing. Mike led a compliance function comprising 1,300 professionals across 40 countries and business divisions, including Investment Banking, Corporate Banking, Retail Banking, Wealth Management and Credit Cards. Mike carried out numerous investigations into governance risk and compliance issues and, for example, ensured appropriate redress was made available for consumers and clients to the satisfaction of the regulator and Skilled Persons. Mike was accountable for investigating alleged breaches of OFAC, EU and HMT sanctions and for ensuring the bank’s compliance with the resultant Deferred Prosecution Agreement.

Before joining Barclays, Mike was a partner in another Big 4 firm where he carried out s166 reviews on governance, risk and conduct-related issues, focusing on banks and investment managers. Before that, Mike was a financial services audit partner.

Relevant Experience:

• OFAC, EU and UK sanctions: led major investigation, look back and remediation into global sanctions problems working with UK and US counsel and reporting to DoJ, FRBNY, UK regulators.
• Skilled Persons reviews: including global banks, a UK-based stockbroker and a direct fund management provider.
• Compliance function transformation: reviewed and reported on the effectiveness and efficiency of a major UK bank’s risk, compliance and financial crime function going through a transformation process. Led transformation of compliance function whilst Head of Compliance.
• Mis-selling and remediation: accountable executive for investigating and remediating the sale of investment funds. The investigation focused on the governance over the design of the product, the identification of client need, the new product approval process, and the role of the three lines of defence, training, and post-sale monitoring.
• Market Abuse: supported a global bank and its counsel in defending an FCA enforcement action.