Introducing 2021 Fellow - Laura Houlihan

Ms. Houlihan is a passionate AML/ATF, financial crime and regulatory compliance executive professional with over 20 years in the financial industry.  Ms. Houlihan has over 15 years of AML/ATF, financial crime and regulatory compliance experience. Laura began her career as a teller at BMO Bank of Montreal and worked her way up throughout her nine year tenure with exposure to in-branch, project management and compliance monitoring roles. In 2005, Laura found her calling when working at AGF Trust as Senior Compliance Specialist where she was able to develop her forte in AML/ATF and financial crime. From 2010 – 2014, Ms. Houlihan held the role of VP, Global Financial Crimes Compliance at Bank of America Merrill Lynch (Canada) where she reported and supported the CAMLO. In 2014, Laura was recruited by and appointed CAMLO at CXI Canada where she was instrumental in developing and implementing a risk-based, OSFI and FINTRAC-compliant AML/ATF compliance program which assisted the former MSB in successfully obtaining approval from OSFI to continue business as a Schedule 1 financial institution, Exchange Bank of Canada.  Since then, Laura has held key executive leadership roles in the capacity of Chief Compliance Officer and CAMLO at DCBank and OTT Pay where she acted as subject matter expert on a wide array of complex AML, financial crime and regulatory compliance matters.  

She graduated with an Honours Bachelor of Arts specializing in business and political science from Wilfrid Laurier University. Laura has held the Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) designation for over 10 years and is a regular speaker at industry events.