BABUL SOLANKI

AML/KYC/Compliance | Metrics | People / Stakeholder Management | Projects Highly organized and self-motivated professional experienced in project management, team development and process improvement. Skilled in developing and implementing strategies to increase efficiency and performance. Passionate about driving business growth and creating positive work environment. Strong leader and problem-solver dedicated to streamlining operations to decrease costs and promote organizational efficiency. Uses independent decision-making skills and sound judgment to positively impact company success. Seasoned Assistant Director knowledgeable about all areas of business operations. Offering 16 years of experience in business planning, operations and team management. Strong leadership and team-building skills.

• Defined and maintained client satisfaction metrics. Reviewed client utilization data and identify enhancement opportunities.
• Identified process re-engineering/automation opportunities to reduce client onboarding time and successfully implemented changes.
• Implemented & operationalized project management and technical advisory best practices to achieve key performance metrics and continuously raise the bar on quality of delivery.
• Key Projects:
• - HKIDR: The Hong Kong Identification Regime (HKIDR) is a significant project that was launched in March 2023. I helped the Head of the KYC operations by providing recommendations for changes required in GoldTier and conducted user UAT testing in the GoldTier.
• - SFC onsite inspection: Involved a two-month-long inspection. Necessary data was extracted, cleaned, and provided to SFC for their review. Implemented changes as per SFC recommendations.
• - CARE (Common Activities Re-Engineering): The project aimed to centralize common activities that are functional in different departments globally.
• Inflight Projects:
• - Margin Finance Product Onboarding: Assisting in-house stakeholders in identifying KYC requirements and designing and implementing system changes in the GoldTier to facilitate Margin Finance trading.
• - TTEP (Trade-through Exchange Participants) Onboarding: Assisting in the system design and implementation of necessary changes in the KYC process to facilitate the onboarding of TTEP participants for trading in the China Connect market.

• AML/KYC & Client Screening Process
• CDD and EDD Client Onboarding
• PEP and high-risk client reporting
• Regulatory Compliance
• Risk Management
• Middle Office / Trade Booking
• Reference Data
• UAT Testing & Business Analysis
• Client & Stakeholder Management
• Team Management
• Process automation

• Associate Director, KYC Operations, Lead Client Onboarding and Periodic Review teams in Hong Kong and India for international trading products, primarily with clients in HK, SG, and the Cayman Islands—Hands-on BAU experience and covering for team members in their absence., Manage team escalations and maintain close oversight on CPI assessments, ALP (Alternative Liquidity Pool/Dark Pool), China Connect market and client data accuracy issues., Value addition to the overall operations teams by providing expertise on KYC matters to ensure compliance with regulations., Conduct and oversee annual ECPI and CPI evaluations required by SFC for corporate clients., Assisting the Compliance team and the Business in meeting regulatory audit requirements set by the SFC by providing and facilitating the necessary client onboarding and remediation data., Collaborating with compliance and legal teams to ensure all KYC processes align with current laws and regulations., Assist the Head of KYC operations in creating and maintaining SOPs and disseminate them within the team with regular updates., Providing training and guidance to other staff members on KYC policies, procedures, and best practices., Lead monthly team meetings to share updates on process changes, escalations, and progress on onboarding and periodic reviews., Provide updates on pending onboarding cases and offboarding account escalations to the COO, Head of AML, and sales during monthly calls., Automated a KYC internal tracker and data cleaning processes using VBA macros and Excel formulas.
• Manager, Client Management Operations – KYC, Ensured client due diligence remediation while having the team identify key risk indicators., Perform CDD/EDD for International Equities clients., Reviewing and Verifying client identification and other relevant information to confirm authenticity and completeness., Perform screening for the periodic reviews and highlight the adverse news/PEP to the AML team for further assessment., Updating and maintaining accurate records of KYC documentation and client information in GodlTier system., Communicating with clients directly to gather necessary information and documents for the KYC process., Assisted with internal and external audits related to KYC and AML compliance., Keyed out KYC-related KPIs for the team to ensure consistency in quality and timeliness of completion., Manage team of 5 KYC analysts who perform comprehensive KYC checks and assessments of the CLSA’s clients, Managed multiple inflight projects for future state processes/procedures & systems., Played a vital role in supporting the management in various ad-hoc tasks related to team performance metrics and new staff hiring processes., Ensured policy changes are promptly applied in onboarding SOP to avoid regulatory penalties.
• Officer / Manager, Middle Office, Acted as the main point of contact for managing relationships and supported Asian and European markets at CLSA Ltd/CLSA Global Markets., Handled systems and applications used by the middle office team, such as Omgeo Alert / CTM and the Order Management System., Assisted the Front Office in non-standard trade bookings and client-related bookings & queries, Led the reference & static data such as account and instrument creations, updating clients' instructions, trade confirmation, providing statements to the clients and setting up market charges., Assisted the client onboarding team in setting up newly introduced clients & brokers' accounts., Maintaining relationships with regional front-offices, back-office, IT teams within CLSA and external clients., Ensured correct trade economics updated on equity and FICC trades and timely matched on CTM (Central Trade Matching system) / paper confirms sent., Managed transaction support team – trade booking and confirmation process., Ensured timely escalation of project issues to the departments such as QA, IT Support, and FIX Support by using JIRA for tracking.
• Senior Analyst, Reference Data Management, Responsible for creating and maintaining client accounts, market products and pricing., Had been involved in the development and testing of internal systems., Imparted training to the juniors on the reference data-related processes., Interfacing and liaising with middle and front office teams to resolve reference data-related issues. Work on multiple Break reports related to all Asset classes to resolve trade breaks., Undertaken system integration projects for dual critical elimination projects., Had been responsible for the creation of the final documents on the projects and getting them approved by stakeholders., Demonstrated abilities in maintaining the MIS and sent it to management weekly., Contributed to several system enhancement initiatives, saving time and FTE for the company. Some of them are Web Form Enhancement, FDA Integration with PDP, PRT (Product Request a Tool) enhancement as per the business requirement, etc.