Looking for a job

Paul Curwen

@paulcurwen

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I build and scale anti-financial crime, risk, and compliance functions for fintechs.

Thailand

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What I'm looking for

I'm looking to lead or advise fintech, payments, digital banking, or crypto businesses on building scalable anti-financial crime, fraud, risk, and compliance functions, with a strong focus on automation, AI, licensing, and regulatory readiness.

I've built and transformed anti-financial crime and risk functions for fintechs, PSPs, and digital banks across Southeast Asia, Europe, and the UK. My work spans EMI and VASP licensing, regulatory compliance, card schemes, fraud prevention, and transaction monitoring.

At Xapo Bank, I led an end-to-end anti-financial crime transformation for a Bitcoin-native bank, managing 10 analysts and assessing eight vendors for a platform covering both fiat and crypto activity. At Delivery Hero, I built AML/CFT, KYB/KYC, fraud, PCI-DSS, PSD2, and card-scheme controls from scratch and led EMI licence applications across multiple markets.

Through Squarisk, I advise clients including PSI-Pay, Bodog, CloudPay, Duitpay, VNX, and TrendDNA on AML controls, transaction monitoring, EMI licensing, stablecoins, and AI crypto trading controls. Previously, I led global fraud operations of more than 140 FTE at Ingenico Payment Services and built risk and compliance at Omise.

Experience

Work history, roles, and key accomplishments

Current

Principal Risk and Compliance Consultant

Current

Squarisk

Aug 2021 - Present (5 years 2 months)

Founded Squarisk and provided risk and compliance consulting for fintech clients, including building AML controls, advising on transaction monitoring, preparing EMI license applications, and structuring risk management for crypto platforms.

Anti Money Laundering KYB KYC CDD EDD PEP Sanctions Transaction Monitoring Risk Orchestration EMI Licensing Stablecoins ICO Tokenomics Regulatory Compliance AI Cryptocurrency

Interim Head of Anti-Financial Crime

Xapo Bank

Jun 2023 - Apr 2024 (10 months)

Led an end-to-end review of the anti-financial crime function at a Bitcoin-native bank, managed a team of 10 analysts, directed vendor assessment for a new transaction monitoring platform, and implemented automated mitigation strategies to reduce APP fraud.

Anti Financial Crime Team Management KPI OKR Definition Chainalysis Sumsub DriveWorks Vendor Selection Transaction Monitoring Fiat and Crypto AI Fraud Prevention Correspondent Banking

Senior Risk and Compliance Director

Delivery Hero

Jan 2020 - Jun 2021 (1 year 5 months)

Built card scheme and acquirer compliance, AML/CFT, KYB/KYC, fraud management, PCI-DSS, PSD2, and business continuity controls from scratch for a global food delivery company. Led EMI licence applications in multiple countries and implemented third-party KYB/KYC and fraud monitoring solutions.

Card Scheme Compliance Acquirer Reconciliation AML CFT KYB KYC Fraud Management PCI DSS PSD2 Business Continuity EMI Licensing Passfort Vixio Feedzai GRC External Audits

Head of Risk Management and Compliance

Omise

Sep 2016 - Sep 2019 (3 years)

Built the risk management and compliance function for a fast-growing payments startup across payment gateway and cryptocurrency business lines in Southeast Asia. Established governance for merchant KYB, defined fraud prevention strategy, and directed compliance across card schemes and external audits.

Risk Management Compliance KYB Fraud Prevention Machine Learning Transaction Monitoring Card Scheme Compliance PCI DSS GDPR External Audits ICO Cryptocurrency Team Management

Fraud Director

Ingenico Payment Services

Jan 2014 - Aug 2016 (2 years 7 months)

Led global managed fraud services for enterprise clients across airlines, forex, gambling, hotels, gaming, and retail. Developed fraud prevention strategy, transformed and rationalised fraud teams, and oversaw global anti-financial crime, chargeback, and fraud operations.

Fraud Prevention Anti Financial Crime Chargeback Management Fraud Analytics Machine Learning Team Leadership PSP Negative Database

Senior Risk Advisory Manager

William Hill

May 2007 - Sep 2013 (6 years 4 months)

Delivered annual advisory reviews and enterprise risk management support for global online and mobile gambling operations, reporting to the board and audit committee. Conducted annual reviews of online payments, orchestration, and risk management framework, and oversaw business continuity and disaster recovery planning.

Risk Management Advisory Enterprise Risk Management Online Payments Business Continuity Disaster Recovery Regulatory Compliance Gaming Licensing