THE DATA INITIATIVE Welcomes Former Wells Fargo & Co. Executive Jim Richards, JD, CAMS

PHOENIX, Jan. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- THE DATA INITIATIVE is excited to announce the addition of Mr. Jim Richards, JD, CAMS as a new member of its advisory board.

Mr. Richards is the principal and founder of RegTech Consulting LLC, focused on providing strategic advice on all aspects of financial crimes risk management to AML software providers, financial technology start-ups, cannabis-related businesses, mid-size banks, and money services businesses.

From 2005 through April 2018 Mr. Richards served as the BSA Officer and Director of Global Financial Crimes Risk Management for Wells Fargo & Co. As BSA officer, he was responsible for governance, training, and program oversight for BSA, anti-money laundering (AML), and sanctions for Wells Fargo's global operations. As Director of Global Financial Crimes Risk Management, he was responsible for BSA, AML, counter-terrorist financing (CTF), external fraud, internal fraud and misconduct, the identity theft prevention program, global sanctions, financial crimes analytics, and high-risk customer due diligence.

Prior to his role with Wells Fargo, Mr. Richards was the AML operations executive at Bank of America. There, he was responsible for the operational aspects of Bank of America's global AML and CTF monitoring, surveillance, investigations, and related SAR reporting. Prior to his 20-year career in banking, Mr. Richards was a prosecutor in Massachusetts, a barrister in Ontario, Canada, and a Special Constable with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. He is the author of "Transnational Criminal Organizations, Cybercrime, and Money Laundering." Mr. Richards has a Bachelor of Commerce (B.Comm.) degree and Juris Doctorate from the University of British Columbia.

The addition of Mr. Richards brings the advisory board to six talented and successful entrepreneurs, senior executives, and industry vertical experts. A great benefit to the early stage growth of THE DATA INITIATIVE.

"Jim is one of the most accomplished leaders in the industry and a recognized global authority on financial crime matters. We are delighted that he has chosen to associate himself with our brand and mission. I personally admire how Jim sees the intersection of emerging issues and markets, it should be a valuable experience in working with Jim directly," said Vic Maculaitis, founder and chief executive of THE DATA INITIATIVE.

"I'm excited to work with Vic and his team. They're solving some of the biggest problems facing AML compliance professionals: how to find and use the overwhelming amount of data and information that is needed to effectively, intelligently, and efficiently run an AML compliance program." said Mr. Richards.

THE DATA INITIATIVE imagines, builds, and delivers modern data products and applications purposed to fight financial crimes smarter. After successfully launching the 100 Series Money Laundering Data Pack + ignitionX (web application) in 2019, along with the Special Series Virtual Currency Data Pack, THE DATA INITIATIVE will announce new product releases over the first quarter of 2020.

ABOUT THE DATA INITIATIVE

THE DATA INITIATIVE was founded in late-2017, began product development in the spring of 2018, and went to market in mid-2019. The data and technology company has quickly grown a portfolio of early adopters across financial services, academia, consulting, and legal. The seed stage startup is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona and has team members spread across the US.

For more information about THE DATA INITIATIVE visit https://thedatainitiative.com.

MEDIA INQUIRIES:

Vic Maculaitis
Founder, THE DATA INITIATIVE
[email protected] | 480-909-8191

SOURCE THE DATA INITIATIVE

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