FinCrime Job Focus: Barry Faudemer, Chief Executive, Baker Regulatory Services

What is your full job title?

Chief Executive, Baker Regulatory Services Limited.

How long have you worked in the industry? 

A total of 41 years in the law enforcement and regulatory space – I always say I started when leaving primary school!

How long have you worked in your current role?

After thirteen years as the Director of Enforcement at the Jersey Financial Services Commission I stood down during the Summer of 2020. After briefly sampling the delights of retirement, I returned to the work place (much to the relief of my wife) and took on my current role in September 2020.

How did you get into your current role?

It started many years ago really, when I was persuaded to apply for the position as the Head of the Police and Customs Joint Financial Crimes Unit in Jersey. I had always regarded investigating financial crime and money laundering as rather boring and unappealing, but I could not have been more wrong. In the last twenty years I have been extremely fortunate to have conducted international, national and domestic financial crime/regulatory investigations returning millions of pounds of stolen money to victims including Governments.  I was also able to contribute heavily to holding offenders to account and building anti-money laundering defences through helping to adapt regulatory and financial crime laws and regulations and more importantly the enforcement of such rules.

What does a typical day look like?

After attending to our many animals, cycling into work and making the tea for the team, it’s heads down to address the challenge of the day. Baker Regulatory Services Limited operates within the Law Firm Baker & Partners who employ people with a terrific sense of humour. The work is hugely varied but the main thrust of the work is regulatory consultancy work and helping businesses to maintain or achieve compliance with the local requirements. In addition we undertake employment or financial crime investigations, enhanced client diligence reports and anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism training. That makes for a busy and challenging day but thoroughly rewarding.

What is your greatest achievement so far?

In 2006 I attended the FBI National Academy in Quantico to study, amongst other things, financial crime and in particular the funding of terrorism. My fellow students consisted of two hundred and thirty senior Police Officers from across the USA but also the world. I was the UK representative and was elected by my fellow officers as their leader which was the greatest honour anyone could bestow upon me. We participated in a September 11th memorial run across Washington in our FBI running kit all running together and in time. I was at the front and the crowd went wild when they saw us coming to the finish line.  I was entrusted to give the graduation speech on behalf of the students and the FBI Director Robert Mueller gave the reply, which again was a huge honour. What I learnt at the Academy was extremely helpful in my role and gave me a firm understanding of how terrorists fund their activities and more importantly how they can be thwarted. 

What is the most challenging thing about your role?

Probably containing my frustration with the COVID-19 pandemic at the moment!  Keeping up with the pace of compliance changes and ensuring that I understand the impact on the industry is always a challenge. I have had a rather unusual career with long service in Law Enforcement and as a Senior Regulator but also acting as Money Laundering Reporting Officer, running a financial crime intelligence function and whistleblowing facility. It has all been challenging, but that’s what attracts me to this type of work. 

What part of your role do you enjoy the most?

I do enjoy delivering training and having spent five years as a law trainer with the States of Jersey Police I still enjoy seeing people learn.  I feel an obligation to pass on what I have learnt to others to ensure they don’t make the same mistakes. Prevention is always better than cure, particularly in this day and age where businesses and individuals face the risk of incurring a civil penalty if they breach the rules. What I enjoy most of all at the moment is working in amongst a great bunch of people with inspirational leadership which makes coming to work so enjoyable every day. 

How do you see your role/industry changing in the next few years?

Money Laundering is big business and will not decline. That means the enforcement of the rules to combat financial crime and money laundering in particular are here to stay and the situation is likely to intensify as everyone goes in search of the missing billions from the COVID-19 related expenditure. Anyone turning a blind eye to money laundering is likely to attract regulatory or criminal sanctions as jurisdictions strive to demonstrate that they are taking effective action against transgressors. I see my role being increasingly focused on ensuring businesses have effective systems and controls. It makes sense, why pay a fine unnecessarily? 

Would you recommend working in this role, please give your reasons?

If you have not undertaken criminal or regulatory investigations into financial crime matters you are missing out. There is no better feeling than protecting vulnerable members of the public from suffering the loss of their pensions or returning millions of pounds to a government from the proceeds of corruption so that they can build schools or hospitals. From someone who has investigated most crimes and regulatory misconduct I can wholeheartedly recommend a career in combatting financial crime.