Photographer: Alan Diaz / AP Photo
Photographer: Alan Diaz / AP Photo
Citigroup Inc. was hired. Ken Blanco, the director of the Financial Crime Enforcement Network, as head of compliance for his newly created financial crime unit.
Blanco worked in the fight against financial crime and the enforcement of regulations on money laundering and terrorist financing at FinCEN, an office of the Treasury Department. Prior to that, he spent 29 years in the U.S. Department of Justice, including that of deputy deputy director general and overseeing the investigation into white-collar fraud.
Blanco will start at Citi in the second quarter, according to an internal note seen by Bloomberg News. He will retire from FinCEN on April 9th.
Satisfaction of regulators and reshaping of global operations are among the main challenges faced by Jane Fraser, who became Citi’s CEO in March. Last year the bank was fined by the Office of the Comptroller of Currency for what the agency called a “failure to establish risk management programs and effective data management and internal controls.”
The bank announced last year that it would create a new Financial Crimes Unit, which would integrate anti-money laundering, sanctions and anti-bribery teams.
Blanco’s appointment follows a list of recent hirings of U.S. regulators on Wall Street. On Thursday, Citadel Securities announced it hired Heath Tarbert, former chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, as chief legal officer.