Omar Magana

Omar leverages management experience and a combination of business acumen, process engineering/re-engineering and technical skill sets to design, develop and implement innovative strategies to assure regulatory compliance with both federal and state laws and regulations. He also offers clients the benefit of a veteran compliance officer with over 20 years of professional experience in AML, risk management and implementing new surveillance technologies to minimize risk in financial services.

He serves as the Managing Director of the Federal Compliance team at Ankura and is a subject matter expert in AML/CFT and sanctions screening, as well as other regulatory requirements specific to financial services.

Prior to joining Ankura, Omar worked in the Money Services Business industry and in private banking with a proven track record in developing programs, building international and domestic AML programs; as well as leading anti-bribery and corruption programs.

During his time as a consultant, Omar has led and participated in various engagements for fintech and traditional financial services including AML Independent reviews, development of policies and procedures, risk assessments, operational improvements, and assessing compliance implications for new products and services for startups. He has also played key roles in building and enhancing the backend processes of AML systems designed to assist in customer onboarding, monitoring and reporting functions; and in the development of government sanctions programs.

Omar’s professional experiences includes:

• Provide guidance, advice and risk-based solutions to complex business initiatives.
• Acting as advisor to financial institutions, money services business, and third-party payment processors in relation to AML/CFT, and risk matters including due diligence, money laundering prevention and Sanctions.
• Oversaw administration of high-risk business relationships ensuring compliance with the company’s KYC standards and procedures designed to protect enterprise value. Analyze KYC documentation conducted by the business and determine if quality of documentation is in line with the company’s procedures and standards.
• Served as liaison for external AML reviews between federal and state examiners, business partners and internal business-units across the multiple organizations.

Omar has a BA in Marketing from California State University of Northridge. He is fluent in Spanish and is CAMS certified.