November’s AML Professional of the Month was awarded to David Cope. Cope was recognized for his professional experience in the anti-money laundering (AML) field. Cope is the head of financial crime compliance for Goldman Sachs Asia LLC. He has over 25 years of experience in the financial crime and AML space, both as a compliance officer and in Hong Kong law enforcement. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, Cope was the Asia-Pacific head for global financial crimes compliance at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Before his time at Bank of America, he was the regional anti-money laundering/counter-terrorist financing (AML/CTF) compliance manager for Morgan Stanley Asia. Cope was also briefly a partner at KPMG China, based in Hong Kong, in the forensic practice dealing with AML/CTF and sanctions issues.
In his compliance roles, Cope led multinational teams dealing with all aspects of financial crime risk management, including client onboarding, sanctions and corruption issues, suspicious activity detection and reporting, and financial crime risk assessments, as well as providing advice and counsel to bank senior management and business leaders for financial crime issues arising in the region. Cope was also the regulatory and audit exam management lead in the region for financial crime, and he executed the design and implementation of the regional monitoring and testing program.
Prior to a career in compliance, Cope’s 17-year long career in the Hong Kong Police Force focused mainly on investigating and prosecuting serious, complex financial crimes and money laundering. Cope had postings to the Commercial Crime Bureau, Organized Crime and Triad Bureau, and Narcotics Bureau. Cope was also part of the formulation and execution of the Hong Kong Police Force’s financial investigation policy and training, including dealing with the Financial Action Task Force mutual evaluation process.
Cope holds a Bachelor of Laws (Honors) from the University of London, and a Master of Social Sciences in Criminology from the University of Hong Kong. Cope is also a co-chair and founding board member of the ACAMS Hong Kong Chapter.
Do you have a mentor who has actively influenced your anti-money laundering (AML) career path in a positive way? Does someone in your network exemplify excellence in AML? Recognize their commitment: Nominate them for ACAMS AML Professional of the Month.
