“I am excited to step into this role while continuing to work closely with Charlie as we make a significant impact for the customers we serve around the world.”
Financial crime detection firm ComplyAdvantage has announced the appointment of Vatsa Narasimha as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), with founder and former chief executive Charles Delingpole transitioning to the role of Executive Chairman.
Vatsa Narasimha, mostly known within the FX industry as the former CEO of OANDA, joined ComplyAdvantage more than two years ago from the provider of online multi-asset trading services and currency data and analytics. He had previously spent eight years at The Boston Consulting Group, working with leading financial institutions on a variety of growth strategy, corporate development, and operational issues.
Vatsa Narasimha led ComplyAdvantage to record growth
At ComplyAdvantage, Vatsa Narasimha has held the position of Chief Operating Officer (COO) and led the firm toward record growth with ARR (annual recurring revenue) growing by nearly 80% last year, fueled by a multitude of new customers from traditional banking and insurance, fintechs, and crypto.
Vatsa Narasimha has also been behind strategic partnerships with world-class BaaS, IDV, and blockchain data providers that helped expand the firm’s business together with investments from Ontario Teachers Pension Plan and Goldman Sachs sourced by the now CEO which expanded the company’s funding to over $100 million. Existing investors include Index Ventures and Balderton Capital.
Charles Delingpole, founder, and Executive Chairman, said: “Vatsa is an exceptional operating executive who has worked hard and delivered incredible results, earning him the right to become our next CEO. ComplyAdvantage continues to lead the industry in using advanced AI and data to combat financial crime. Vatsa has the right strategic skill sets and experience needed for this next chapter of growth. I want to whole-heartedly congratulate Vatsa, and I look forward to this next chapter in the company’s exciting trajectory.”
Jan Hammer, partner at Index Ventures, added: “ComplyAdvantage is entering a new phase of growth so the time is right for Vatsa to step into the CEO role. Scaling a company offers unique challenges and huge rewards. Vatsa has deep executive experience and a clear vision for the next phase of CompyAdvantage’s growth. As a board member, I am excited that the company is continuing to evolve, and I am delighted to welcome Charles to the role of Executive Chairman. I look forward to seeing continued growth under Vatsa’s leadership.”
Vatsa Narasimha, CEO of ComplyAdvantage, commented: “Since my first conversation with Charlie, it has been obvious to me that ComplyAdvantage was built to solve the large and pressing problem that is financial crime detection. The company’s track record reflects the significant progress we are making against our mission of bringing next-gen tools to help our clients get a holistic understanding of counter-party risk. I am excited to step into this role while continuing to work closely with Charlie as we make a significant impact for the customers we serve around the world.”
ComplyAdvantage founder Charles Delingpole becomes Executive Chairman
Charles Delingpole founded ComplyAdvantage in 2014 and led the regtech firm since its formation, having taken the company from zero to operating with 450+ employees and more than 1,000 clients worldwide.
While remaining a key part of the team in his new position, Charles Delingpole will hand over the CEO role to Vatsa Narashimha, whose appointment comes at an exciting time for the company as it continues to to expand globally as a leader in anti-money laundering and related financial crimes powered by massive amounts of data and advanced machine learning.
ComplyAdvantage’s AML (anti-money laundering) solution has hit record levels with search volumes doubling quarter over quarter for the company’s Customer Screening and Monitoring solution, the firm reported, adding that the platform has facilitated more than 1 billion searches across 150 million entities that are monitored daily while Transaction Risk Monitoring volumes have increased by 4 times.
The AI-driven financial crime risk data and detection platform caters to over 1,000 clients and identifies thousands of risk events daily from millions of structured and unstructured data points. The firm has four global hubs in New York, London, Singapore, and Cluj-Napoca and is backed by Goldman Sachs, Ontario Teachers, Index Ventures, and Balderton Capital.
