Compliance Influencer of the Month of May
Simon Young
Compliance Expert, FinTech and RegTech Enthusiast
Who are you and what do you do?
I’m Simon, a compliance expert, FinTech and RegTech enthusiast. I have left Ping An Group recently where I was the Chief Compliance Officer (Overseas) and Group Head of Financial Crime Risk Management. At Ping An, I provided supervisory oversight with respect to regulatory compliance of the group’s businesses outside Mainland China, including virtual banking & traditional banking, securities & asset management, insurance and fintech across Hong Kong, Singapore and Indonesia. I also led the group financial crime risk management function based in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, where we use advanced technologies to identify and monitor financial crime related risks across 40 business groups with over 210 million customers. Over the course of my 20+ years career, I have held various leadership positions across banking, financial services and fintech industries, which includes Tencent, Octopus Cards, BOCI, Standard Chartered & Merrill Lynch. Now, I’m taking a short break and joining my friends to start a blockchain-based technology solutions project.
Why did you choose a career in compliance?
I first started my career at PricewaterhouseCoopers as an auditor serving Financial Services clients after graduation. Compliance is one of the key pillars of any financial institutions and has been getting more and more important over the past 15 years or so. To me, it’s a natural move from financial services audit to compliance and it proves to be a right decision when I look back today.
What has been the most important skill set you believe is necessary for a role in compliance?
To strive to become a ‘compound talent’ (复合型人才) where on one hand, you have to be familiar with the domain compliance knowledge; and on the other hand, you have to “think ahead”, know and get to understand what’s happening around your domain, it’s development and implication to what you do.
What is the best thing about your job?
It allows me to get to know various people from within the organization as well as people from outside including regulators, government officials, business partners, industry practitioners, service vendors, etc. where I am able to learn from them one way or another.
We all have learning experiences during our careers, what was your greatest learning experience (something you worked on, a career move or even something someone said)?
An example of a great learning experience to share is my career move from the traditional financial services industry to fintech/technology industry. It is an eye-opening experience, and I would say it is a paradigm shift of what I used to know and work. It gives me great insight and stimulates the way I think and work in positive and constructive ways.
What has been your proudest moment(s)/achievement(s)?
It would be something relating to my family. That is to seeing my 8 year old daughter grow day-by-day and getting to know new things bit-by-bit over time. It is a miracle and so fulfilling to evidence the growth of my daughter.
What is the biggest risk you've taken in your career?
I would say the biggest risk I have taken in my career was to make the career move from traditional financial services industry to fintech/technology industry mentioned above. Notwithstanding the risk behind, it proves to be a right decision and pays off.
What inspires you?
The wisdom of Jesus Christ as well as all the great people I met in my life.
Compliance can be a 24/7 job. How and what do you do to make sure you switch off?
I don’t really need to switch off as long as it’s something I like and love to do. The key thing is to sort out how you prioritize work and family matters. I think they could co-exist.
What advice would you give to aspiring compliance officers?
Stay curious and get involved. Think ahead and be curious as a compliance professional. Nowadays, one has to be curious about what’s happening around you and think of how you can get involved. Think about how you can enable the business to make strategic decisions with all the risks in mind and achieve success with innovative risk controls in a way that is socially responsible and sustainable.
What is something people don't know about you?
I used to play squash in the University team and the amateur squash league.
Anything else you would like to add?
It is my great honour and privilege to be awarded RAW Compliance's Compliance Influencer of the Month! I enjoy sharing and exchanging ideas and thoughts with young people and the new generation, and by doing so, I learn and benefit too.
I’m Simon, a compliance expert, FinTech and RegTech enthusiast. I have left Ping An Group recently where I was the Chief Compliance Officer (Overseas) and Group Head of Financial Crime Risk Management. At Ping An, I provided supervisory oversight with respect to regulatory compliance of the group’s businesses outside Mainland China, including virtual banking & traditional banking, securities & asset management, insurance and fintech across Hong Kong, Singapore and Indonesia. I also led the group financial crime risk management function based in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, where we use advanced technologies to identify and monitor financial crime related risks across 40 business groups with over 210 million customers. Over the course of my 20+ years career, I have held various leadership positions across banking, financial services and fintech industries, which includes Tencent, Octopus Cards, BOCI, Standard Chartered & Merrill Lynch. Now, I’m taking a short break and joining my friends to start a blockchain-based technology solutions project.
Why did you choose a career in compliance?
I first started my career at PricewaterhouseCoopers as an auditor serving Financial Services clients after graduation. Compliance is one of the key pillars of any financial institutions and has been getting more and more important over the past 15 years or so. To me, it’s a natural move from financial services audit to compliance and it proves to be a right decision when I look back today.
What has been the most important skill set you believe is necessary for a role in compliance?
To strive to become a ‘compound talent’ (复合型人才) where on one hand, you have to be familiar with the domain compliance knowledge; and on the other hand, you have to “think ahead”, know and get to understand what’s happening around your domain, it’s development and implication to what you do.
What is the best thing about your job?
It allows me to get to know various people from within the organization as well as people from outside including regulators, government officials, business partners, industry practitioners, service vendors, etc. where I am able to learn from them one way or another.
We all have learning experiences during our careers, what was your greatest learning experience (something you worked on, a career move or even something someone said)?
An example of a great learning experience to share is my career move from the traditional financial services industry to fintech/technology industry. It is an eye-opening experience, and I would say it is a paradigm shift of what I used to know and work. It gives me great insight and stimulates the way I think and work in positive and constructive ways.
What has been your proudest moment(s)/achievement(s)?
It would be something relating to my family. That is to seeing my 8 year old daughter grow day-by-day and getting to know new things bit-by-bit over time. It is a miracle and so fulfilling to evidence the growth of my daughter.
What is the biggest risk you've taken in your career?
I would say the biggest risk I have taken in my career was to make the career move from traditional financial services industry to fintech/technology industry mentioned above. Notwithstanding the risk behind, it proves to be a right decision and pays off.
What inspires you?
The wisdom of Jesus Christ as well as all the great people I met in my life.
Compliance can be a 24/7 job. How and what do you do to make sure you switch off?
I don’t really need to switch off as long as it’s something I like and love to do. The key thing is to sort out how you prioritize work and family matters. I think they could co-exist.
What advice would you give to aspiring compliance officers?
Stay curious and get involved. Think ahead and be curious as a compliance professional. Nowadays, one has to be curious about what’s happening around you and think of how you can get involved. Think about how you can enable the business to make strategic decisions with all the risks in mind and achieve success with innovative risk controls in a way that is socially responsible and sustainable.
What is something people don't know about you?
I used to play squash in the University team and the amateur squash league.
Anything else you would like to add?
It is my great honour and privilege to be awarded RAW Compliance's Compliance Influencer of the Month! I enjoy sharing and exchanging ideas and thoughts with young people and the new generation, and by doing so, I learn and benefit too.