CASE STUDY

MLRO and Head of Transaction Monitoring

The Company

MarTrust is a leading specialist maritime payments company. As a global maritime financial services provider, the firm delivers innovative payment solutions tailored specifically for the shipping industry. Its core services include crew and supplier payment management, currency exchange, and payroll optimisation. A key differentiator is MarTrust’s ability to significantly reduce reliance on Cash-to-Master (CTM), improving operational efficiency for its clients in the maritime sector.

The Requirement

MarTrust needed two senior compliance leaders, an MLRO and a Head of Transaction Monitoring. Finding the right blend of technical expertise and cultural fit in the niche maritime payments space was proving challenging. Compliance Professionals quickly understood the client needs and helped MarTrust secure the right people for these critical roles.

Our Solution

Leveraging over 20 years of experience in the compliance recruitment space, Compliance Professionals undertook a detailed and targeted market search. Our team conducted in-depth market mapping across the payments, money transfer, and fintech sectors to identify individuals who not only met the regulatory and technical requirements but also had a solid understanding of the types of products MarTrust offers, such as instant payments and FX solutions.

We focused on candidates with previous experience in firms that had undergone the transition from a Payment Services Directive (PSD) regime to an EMI structure. This ensured that the talent presented would be able to support MarTrust through its current licensing journey and continue to add value in the longer term.

The Outcome

For both the MLRO and Head of Transaction Monitoring roles, we submitted a shortlist of the best candidates from both the active and passive talent pools. From the short listed candidates 4 first interviews were scheduled for the MLRO position and 5 for the Head of Transaction Monitoring. We then obtained detailed interview feedback and managed subsequent interviews and the offer stage.

The MLRO position was successfully filled by a candidate from a regulated payments firm with hands-on EMI licensing experience and a strong track record in second-line compliance leadership. The Head of Transaction Monitoring role was secured by a candidate with a fintech background, who had operated under a PSD2 framework from and brought the fraud and monitoring expertise required to strengthen MarTrust’s first-line defences.