Che Sidanius is the Global Head of Financial Crime & Industry Affairs at LSEG. His role is to identify regulatory changes and lead programs of action with the sole purpose of enhancing the fight against financial crime more effective and delivering the best possible outcome for the industry. Together with the World Economic Forum and Europol, he’s the founder of the Global Coalition to Fight Financial Crime and Co-Chair of the B20’s Integrity and Compliance Taskforce.

Prior to joining LSEG, his work experiences include being a Senior Advisor to the Bank of England's Financial Stability Directorate and previously a Senior Bank Examiner at the Federal Reserve Bank of NY. His most notable awards included receiving the Presidential Award for managing the 2007-09 Financial Crisis and a driving force behind Refinitiv’s Impact Company of the year award in 2019 and contributor to the same award in 2021.

Che received his Master’s in International Affairs from the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University and undergraduate degree in Political Science from UC Berkeley in California.

Ernst Pienaar was appointed as Global Head of Specialist Crimes and Sanctions in Cape Town, South Africa, for then Thomson Reuters World-Check business in September 2016, now part of the LSEG Group.

Ernst joined Thomson Reuters in 2011 as part of the World-Check acquisition. Prior to his current appointment, Ernst was Global Head of Research for the World-Check business since 2009. He was responsible for the management of the then 5 global World-Check Research centers (Santiago, Washington DC, Cape Town, Singapore and Penang) tasked with the creation and update of the World-Check risk databases for over 240 countries and territories in over 60 local languages.

Before joining World-Check, Ernst was Head of Forensic Investigations and Group Money Laundering Reporting Officer for the Sanlam Life Group for a period of 10 years. Previously he was a Senior State Advocate with South Africa’s Office for Serious Economic Offences, and began his career as a State Prosecutor in Johannesburg.

He holds a Masters Degree in Constitutional Law, and LL.B and B.lur law degrees.

Lebogang (“Lebo”) is an experienced Compliance professional with particular strengths in Financial Crime Compliance (FCC), Monitoring, Presentations and Regulatory Value add.

Currently serving as an Associate Director: AML Compliance Officer at KPMG, Lebo has worked  for Absa Group as a Financial Crime Assurance Vice President and has garnered experience in the Asset Management and Investment as Senior Compliance Manager and MLRO looking after the Group’s Financial Crime Compliance (FCC) at Alexander Forbes. She has extensive experience of working with stakeholders across the regulatory landscape, including having worked at the Financial Services Conduct Authority (FSCA) for three years. Her Zeal for FCC has not only aided in her wealth of expertise but has encouraged her to add value in be convicted in making a difference in the financial industry.

She is trained as an internal auditor with KPMG after having completed her B.Comm Honours in Internal Audit through the University of Pretoria.  She thereafter factored into Compliance where she obtained her Post Graduate Diploma in Compliance Management through University of Johannesburg.

Lebo has earned her accolades in the Financial Services Industry and is currently recognized as the 2024 Mail and Guardian Top 200 Young South African Winner under the Business category. She also serves as a National Executive Committee Member of the Associate of Black Securities and Investments Professionals (ABSIP). She is a  Conference Speaker and host for various conferences such as the Digital Assets and Sanctions Compliance conference and AML and FCC Conferences.

Seyfi Günay is Head of Risk Sales EMEA at LSEG. He leads the LSEG Specialist team. Mr. Günay helps organizations navigate the complex world of risk and compliance, through LSEG's robust data, high-performing technology and advanced analytics.

Mr. Günay has 20 years of experience in Market Development and Leadership roles in the Risk and Compliance Markets.

Mr. Günay holds a Masters Degree in Economics from Munich University and an MBA from Kellogg School of Management.

Pieter Smit is the Acting Director and one of the Executive Managers of the Financial Intelligence Centre where he oversees the development of policy proposals on the implementation and reform of legislation against money laundering and terror financing.

He is also responsible for coordinating South Africa’s participation in inter-governmental organisations such as the Financial Action Task Force and the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group.

He started his career as a public prosecutor. Then, as a State Law Advisor of the South African Law Reform Commission, he was responsible for projects which resulted in legislation on, among others, money laundering, asset forfeiture, mutual legal assistance and extradition. He was then attached to the Asset Forfeiture Unit in the office of the National Director of Public Prosecutions, conducting applications relating to the confiscation and forfeiture of assets.

He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Law from the University of Pretoria and a Master’s Degree in Law, with major subjects in banking and exchange law, from the University of Johannesburg.

Adv Xolisile Khanyile is a career prosecutor having served different roles for a period of 23 years. Xolisile served in the Asset Forfeiture Unit for a period of more than 5 years and was appointed by the President of South Africa as a Director of Public Prosecutions for a period of 8 years.

From January 2018 to August 2023, she held the position of Director of the Financial Intelligence Centre. During her tenure she also served as the Vice Chair of the Egmont Group and then was promoted to the position of Chair. Xolisile led the South African delegation at the FATF meetings and at the G20 Anti-Corruption Working Group meetings during her tenure in the FIC.

Xolisile holds a B Juris, LLB, LLM and MDP from the Business School of the University of Free State. She attended the Duke University African Women Charted Accountants course in 2015 and graduated in 2016.

Currently Xolisile is the Director of Langelihle Consultants that does training on AML\CFT, and any other financial crime matters as well as ethics. In this capacity Xolisile has spoken at several regional and international forums such as the Women in Financial Crime Conference hosted by AML Intelligence, the London Stock Exchange FICA Conference, the Qatar Compliance Conference, the Namibian Standard Bank Anti-Financial Conference amongst others.

Xolisile is currently also registered as a Senior Expert with the European Union AML\CFT Global Facility where she facilitates and gives training on Immediate Outcome 6 to Financial Intelligence Units and Law Enforcement Agencies. On 31 October 2024 the South African Minister of Finance appointed Xolisile to be a member of the Financial Services Tribunal and the Financial Intelligence Centre Appeal Board.

Mr Christopher Cyril Martin Malan is the Executive Manager (Compliance and Prevention Division) at the Financial Intelligence Centre with oversight responsibility for monitoring the national state of supervision, and inspections, by supervisory bodies, and national compliance of all accountable institutions under the Financial Intelligence Centre Act, 2001, as amended.

He is a member of the South African Delegation to the Financial Action Task Force, responsible for remediating grey-listing action items relating to Designated Non-financial Businesses and Professions.

Mr Malan is co-chair of the Inter-Departmental Committee on Beneficial Ownership Transparency (IDC BOT) (a Cabinet endorsed IDC) to design and implement a national BOT registry framework in South Africa, and in that capacity provides guidance on the grey listing remediation on BOT.

Mr Malan is a former National Treasury Chief Director of Financial Regulation (1999-2004), who finalised the AML/CFT policy and regulatory regime, including stakeholder consultations, oversaw the passage of the FIC Bill through Parliament, and advised then Minister of Finance, the Honourable Dr Trevor Manuel, on the establishment of the FIC. He transferred to the FIC in December 2004.

Mr Malan, as financial sector expert, participated in the FATF Mutual Evaluation Assessment of Australia in 2005, and the FATF Mutual Evaluation Assessment of Finland, in 2018.

Mr Christopher Malan is a former attorney, and a certified anti-money laundering specialist of the Association of Anti-Money Laundering Specialists, since 2013.

He holds the BA (Political Studies & Roman Dutch Law), LLB and LLM (Advanced Company Law & Maritime Law) degrees, and Postgraduate Diploma in Tax Law (University of Cape Town), and Postgraduate Diploma in Economic Principles (SOAS, University of London). He attended the Program on the Global Financial System: Structure, Crisis, and Reform (JFK School of Government, Harvard University).

Carlos boasts over 20 years' experience as a Data Management Leader, specializing in data warehousing, data integration, data modelling, data marts, business intelligence and data governance.

His track record demonstrates his ability to navigate complex data challenges and deliver impactful solutions.

He currently is accountable for the data domain at Nedbank, including data operations, architectural, engineering, modelling and capabilities.

Nivan Naidoo is a Senior Director at FTI Consulting and is based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Nivan is in the Forensic & Litigation Consulting segment and has been in the Financial Crime Compliance environment for approximately 14 years.

Nivan previously served as a diplomat with the Department of International Relations and Co-operation (DIRCO) where he served at the South African Embassy in Luanda, Angola from 2002 until 2005. After leaving DIRCO in 2007, Nivan joined the legal team at First Rand Short Term Insurance Association (FRSTIA) and then went on to join their Risk and Compliance division. He remained in this role for 3 years. In 2011, Nivan joined Nedbank Group AML, CFT and Sanctions department where he assisted in building the AML Regulatory Risk and Monitoring team. He held this role for 8 years. In 2019, Nivan joined Bidvest Bank as their Head of AML, CFT and Sanctions where he stayed until joining FTI Consulting in April 2021.

Nivan holds a Law Degree from University of KZN and certificates in Financial Management and Investments from UNISA and Blockchain and Digital Currency from University of Cape Town

Graham is a Senior Manager in the Deloitte Risk Advisory division. Graham joined Deloitte in 2008 where he completed his articles. He had extensive exposure to the financial services industry. The focus of the experience he obtained was mainly in the Vehicle Asset Finance market and home loans. This provided him invaluable insight into this market.

Due to this experience, he was seconded to the United States to assist the Deloitte US firm. While working in the USA he was exposed to the operations of Wyndham Worldwide and Blackrock Reality where he gained insight into global FSI.

Graham returned to Deloitte Risk Advisory in March 2011, where he worked on a number of IT Engagements in the FSI industry. This allowed him to obtain further understanding in relation to the underlying technical operations, risks and controls of various financial institutions.

More recently, Graham has also been involved in a number of FSI consulting engagements and has become one of Deloitte’s key Anti Money Laundering, Countering the Financing of Terrorism and Sanctions subject matter experts. This has resulted in him performing numerous engagements across Africa, including Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Henri Schomper is based in South Africa and is responsible for Law Enforcement and External Partnerships on the continent of Africa, for Western Union. He was the Senior Prosecutor for the city of Germiston, east of Johannesburg until 1999.

He started his international working career in the middle of 1999, by joining MasterCard in Dubai as the Director Security and Risk Management Middle East and Africa, where he was responsible for credit card fraud investigations, law enforcement and merchant training as well as fraud management and audits of bank fraud monitoring systems.

He joined Western Union and returned to South Africa in 2014 as the Senior Manager, Law Enforcement and External Partnerships. In this position he supports Law Enforcement, Prosecuting Authorities, Judiciary, FIU’s / FIC’s / FIA’s and NGOs throughout the African continent with investigations, prosecutions, and financial intelligence.

He also conducts regular training seminars on “following the money” and “illicit money flows” in conjunction with mostly the UNODC, UNCCT/UNOCT, Civipol, the EU, The World Bank, and other entities with interests in Counter Terrorism and the detection, prevention and response to Human Trafficking, Drug Trafficking, Wildlife trafficking, Money Laundering and Fraud.

Kent specialises in all aspects of financial regulatory law including insurance, collective investment schemes, financial markets, pension funds and anti-money laundering.

He has advised numerous local and foreign financial institutions and groups on a wide range of topics including: structuring insurance arrangements, corporate restructures, solo and group governance, asset spreading

requirements for insurers and pension funds, mergers and acquisitions, financial conglomerates and insurance groups, issues relating to the custody of financial assets, transfers of insurance business, the promotion of foreign funds and other financial products and instruments in South Africa, OTC derivatives, as well as compliance with South Africa's anti money-laundering and counter terrorist financing regime.

He has also acted for several financial institutions in arbitrations and other regulatory disputes.

James began his presenting and video career as the face of Thomson Reuters in 2015. After delivering numerous well-received and successful interviews and videos with C-level officials, James began hosting major events, ceremonies and MCing.

James’ impressive portfolio of successful hosting and presenting work covers a broad spectrum of industries including Government, Financial Institutions, Multinationals and Asset Managers. Currently under the London Stock Exchange Group, James regularly hosts and presents many International Events, World Investment Forums, Investment and Compliance Summits.

Evita is enthusiastic and dynamic AML professional with 10 years of varied experience in AML activities including regulation of sectors (financial and non-financial), developing typologies, AML/TF methodologies, KYC processes, Enhanced Due Diligence, Remediation and QA functions. As well as working with local and international stakeholders on a variety of levels as part of my regulatory compliance responsibilities in the public sector. Currently Head of Compliance: Financial Crime – Commercial Banking. Evita currently holds a CAMS, CGSS, AMLC Prac (SA) certification and is currently busy with a Masters in Corruption and Governance through the University of Sussex.

Evita also plays an active role in the SAMLIT Modern Slavery Human Trafficking Expert Working Group. She is one of the authors for the report Follow The Money - How understanding financial flows and key indicators can help to fight modern slavery and human trafficking in South Africa She currently heads up the training and raising awareness work stream which was borne out of recommendations from the afore mentioned report.

She was recently awarded AMLC Prac (SA) by the Compliance Institute of South Africa.

Poovindree Naidoo is a Specialist Legal and Policy Advisor in the Financial Intelligence Centre.  Poovindree is primarily responsible for the drafting of amendments to the Financial Intelligence Centre Act and the regulations to ensure that the legislation is in line with the international standards relating to AML/CFT/CPF.  

She has been closely involved in, among others, the drafting of amendments contained in the General Law Amendment Act, 2022 that addressed the technical compliance deficiencies identified in South Africa’s FATF Mutual Evaluation Report.  Poovindree also assisted in the preparation of the country for South Africa’s mutual evaluation assessment.  She has been an assessor as well as a reviewer on behalf of the FATF and ESAAMLG for other countries mutual evaluations.   

Previously, Poovindree worked at the Department of Justice’s Legislative Development division as a Senior State Law Advisor.  

Brandon has a total of 33 years’ experience within the financial services industry.  He joined FNB in 2003 and has filled various roles within his time at the bank, before settling into his current role as COO within Screening Services.

He has been in the COO role in FNB, for various areas, for the last 13 years & has a proven track record in the management of strategy & operations within FNB. Ten of these years have been in the Financial Crime space, focusing on anti-money laundering.  

He has been instrumental in leveraging the use of Machine Learning and AI in this space to drive efficiencies & effectiveness in the face of ever increasing Regulatory changes and volumes.

Rufaida Hamilton is the Head of Payments for South Africa at Standard Bank Limited of South Africa (SA). She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Arts at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal in SA, and after finishing Law School in 1998, pursued a Bachelor of Commerce Honours degree. Rufaida has 24 years of extensive experience in financial services and payments, traversing the investment, corporate and retail banking segments. She has worked for 3 of the largest banks in South Africa and served in various payment industry roles within the SA payments eco-system in both Board and Board committee roles.

Passionate about improving the South African bank payment experience, Rufaida has led the South African Instant Payments design and implementation, as Chair of several committees from its design phase to execution of the programme to implement a new instant payment rail in the country.

Rufaida also recently led the banking industry programme to contribute to the design of the new South African payments industry body. She has a great passion for capacity building in payments expertise and skills, particularly amongst women in payments, and specifically in emerging markets.

As a Money 20/20, Amsterdam Rise Up Cohort member in 2019, Rufaida is a mentor both in South Africa and on the Women in Payments, Canada Global Mentorship programme, supporting the development of emerging talent in payments. She recently joined the board of Currency Research and is a standing member of the Women in Payments EMEA Advisory Board.