Ela Emmett serves as a Senior Manager for Financial Crime Controls, Risks, and Policy & Advisory within the Compliance function at ICBC Standard Bank. In this key leadership role, she oversees critical compliance initiatives, ensuring the bank remains aligned with global regulatory expectations while mitigating financial crime risks. Her responsibilities include designing and implementing robust anti-financial crime policies, conducting in-depth risk assessments, and providing expert guidance to senior stakeholders. Ela plays a vital role in strengthening the bank's control frameworks, ensuring adherence to evolving financial regulations while enhancing internal safeguards against financial crime threats. 

Before joining ICBC Standard Bank, Ela built a career in financial crime risk management, particularly during her tenure at Commerzbank AG London, where she led the AML Monitoring and Investigation team and served as Fraud Officer for the London Branch. She was instrumental in overseeing governance structures both locally and globally, spearheading the bank’s Anti-Fraud Programme, and managing complex investigations across various business platforms. Her leadership contributed significantly to the development and implementation of anti-financial crime policies, procedures, and controls, ensuring the bank’s resilience against fraudulent activities and money laundering risks. 

Ela’s extensive experience in financial crime investigations began with a decade-long tenure at Citibank NA, where she held a similar investigative role, developing expertise in fraud detection, anti-money laundering (AML), and financial crime risk management. Alongside her professional experience, she has a strong academic background, holding a Master’s degree in Criminal Studies from the University of Portsmouth's Institute of Criminal Justice Studies, as well as multiple financial crime-related certifications, including ACAMS, ACFE, and ECCP at Frankfurt School of Finance & Management. Early in her career, she trained with the Analysis Training Unit at Greater Manchester Police and attended specialized courses with City of London Police, gaining foundational investigative skills that have been instrumental in her work within financial crime prevention and compliance.