Julian Grima

Local experience – Financial Crime engagements

• Led a team of over 120 individuals in support of a de-risking exercise conducted by one of the leading financial institutions in Malta. As part of this engagement, which focused primarily on international personal and corporate clients and also supported the client in:
• Renewing governance related documentation which, amongst others, included the client’s Customer Acceptance Policy, Politically Exposed Persons (PEP) Policy, Country Risk Ratings and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Procedures
• Designing applicable processes for the remediation exercise and drafting relevant checklists for use by the wider team
• Designing and implementing an account activity review dashboard which facilitates the remediation process
• Delivering training to all new team members
• Formed an integral part of the compliance team in connection with a review of the local and international customer portfolio of a Malta licensed credit institution. Reporting directly to the MLRO, was also responsible for reviewing internal reporting templates produced by the compliance team with a view of ensuring highest quality standards and making a final recommendation to the MLRO as to whether the case warranted external reporting to the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit
• Led a team of analysts in conducting an alert clearing project for a local credit institution. This engagement involved the detailed review of a backlog of open transaction monitoring alerts covering both corporate and retail customers. Working closely with the client’s MLRO, was responsible for reviewing the approach and methodology towards the alert clearing exercise, drafting tailored checklists, designing and implementing a transaction monitoring visualization dashboard to expedite the review process and overseeing quality control
• Conducted an AML/CFT Institutional Risk Assessment for one of the core banks in Malta to identify the inherent risks posed by its existing customer base, assess the robustness of controls in place and make relevant recommendations for improvements to the current control environment
• Led an engagement for a local bank in connection with the automation of manual customer due diligence review and transaction monitoring processes.
• Led a team of 20 people in connection with a Customer Due Diligence remediation process for one of the key players in the local banking industry
• Provided support to a local Authority in implementing its future state framework for operator onboarding and ongoing monitoring. Also provided training in connection with Anti Money Laundering and Countering Funding of Terrorism to all employees of the Authority

Delivery of training programmes / seminars:

• Provided training to over 400 employees of one of the core banks in Malta in connection with Anti Money Laundering and Countering Funding of Terrorism
• Delivered training to the Maltese judiciary (judges and magistrates) in connection with changes in local AML legislation as a result of the European Union’s fourth AML directive
• Key speaker during an EY seminar on the European Union’s fourth AML directive
• Over the years, delivered various internal and external training sessions in connection with the implications of AML regulations, primarily for credit institutions and gaming companies
• Delivered various other training sessions to a wide range of subject persons, both internal and external, in connection with amendments to the local legislative and regulatory framework

International experience – Financial Crime engagements

• London: Formed part of the Quality Assurance (QA) team in a transaction monitoring exercise for a major international retail bank which focused on the review of alerted customer activity in relation to potential money laundering activity. During this project, also attended a workshop in New York which aimed to further align the client’s procedures with those of its headquarters in the USA
• London: Worked on a remediation project relating to Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) for one of the leading players in the UK banking industry. Led the QA team which was responsible for providing quality assurance on investigations performed. During the second phase, took over the Quality Control Technical Lead role where he was responsible for providing recommendations on how to enhance the investigation process and delivering policy update presentations
• London / Brussels: Led the QA team responsible for ensuring adherence to quality standards in relation to an international corporate bank’s Anti-Money Laundering Operations and KYC procedures. In this role, also dealt with enhanced due diligence procedures relating to Politically Exposed Persons, sanctions screening and contributed to the enhancement of the investigation procedures. Once this remediation project was complete, played a key role in setting up a similar remediation project for the client’s branch in Brussels
• London: Performed quality checks in connection with the CDD procedures remediation process for a major international investment bank
• London: Led a financial crime themed Business Risk Assessment for a major asset management company based in the UK

Local experience – Other Transaction Advisory engagements

• Led the Project Management Office within the Strategy and Transformation function of a local credit institution. In his role, Julian was responsible for planning, coordinating and overseeing all tasks carried out by the team. Together with the team, he also supported the client in drafting the function’s target operating model, introducing governance oversight frameworks, designing and building tools and enablers for effective project management and reporting as well as securing knowledge transfer to permanent appointments through tailored handover practices
• Formed an integral part of the Project Management Office for an European Economic Area bank in support of the execution of a complex remediation program in response to an On-Site Inspection by the European Central Bank. Julian’s role included working alongside key Action Owners to define actions, track progress, identify risks/issues and help with effective resolution thereto, driving effective governance oversight, timely escalation of any potential delays to the Steering Committee, deploying tools and enablers for effective project management as well as weekly progress reporting
• Carried out financial due diligence procedures for international clients across various industries.

Local experience

• Gained extensive knowledge on the audit requirements of companies operating mainly within the transportation, retail and manufacturing sectors. During these engagements, was responsible for assisting team members and for reviewing work assigned to the team
• Involved in all sections of an audit engagement, i.e. from the planning stage to the preparation of deliverables to primary teams and drafting of client deliverables
• Involved in the audit of a local subsidiary of a SEC registered company. Hence, he also gained direct experience in US SEC requirements for SOX404 reporting
• Seconded to EY Bucharest for three months, worked on a number of engagements particularly in the real estate sector and in the manufacturing industry