Sven Stumbauer
Partner and Americas Anti-Money Laundering and Sanctions Practice Leader at Forward Global, a commercial and geopolitical risk management firm.
He has spent more than twenty years in financial crime, regulatory risk and investigations. He has advised more than 150 banks, crypto and fintech companies and other businesses in the United States and over sixty countries on anti-money laundering, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and other sanctions, and anti-corruption under the FCPA and the UK Bribery Act.
He has led large regulatory investigations and remediation programs, designed financial crime operating models for major institutions, and served as an independent monitor and consultant in U.S. enforcement actions. He works directly with boards and executive teams, and has briefed U.S. and foreign government bodies, central banks and finance ministries on emerging financial crime issues.
Experience
He began his career as a compliance examiner at the NASD (now FINRA). He went on to build and lead global anti-money laundering and sanctions practices at international consulting and law firms, served as interim chief compliance officer of a global financial institution, and led the monitor liaison office of a global cryptocurrency exchange under U.S. Department of Justice and FinCEN monitorships before joining Forward Global.
Board of Directors, Florida International Bankers Association, 2006–2015. Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS). MBA, Georgia Institute of Technology. Languages: English, German, Spanish, Czech, Slovak and Russian.
His current work spans independent testing and risk assessments, board and executive briefings, regulatory investigations and remediation, and the extraterritorial reach of U.S. enforcement on banks and businesses worldwide. Current priorities for clients include sanctions evasion, correspondent banking pressure, the terrorist designation of cartels, and the accountability now placed on directors.
He is the author of Cartels Designated as Terrorists (publishing January 26, 2027) and The Next Wave of Global Anti-Money Laundering Enforcement (Palgrave Macmillan), and coauthor of Normatividad bancaria 2025 (LID Editorial).
Speaker and commentator
He has been a guest speaker at Harvard Kennedy School and Tecnológico de Monterrey’s EGADE Business School, and speaks at international compliance, banking and governance conferences in the Americas, Europe and Asia. His commentary has appeared in the Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and Reuters.
Experience with
- United States
- Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), Federal Reserve, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS)
- United Kingdom
- Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
- Singapore
- Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)
- Hong Kong
- Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA); Securities and Futures Commission (SFC)
- Japan
- Financial Services Agency (FSA)
- South Korea
- Financial Services Commission (FSC)
- Germany
- Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin)
- Switzerland
- Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA)
- Mexico
- Comisión Nacional Bancaria y de Valores (CNBV); Office of the Attorney General
- Guatemala
- Banco de Guatemala
- Colombia
- Office of the Attorney General
- Panama
- Ministerio de Comercio e Industrias
For board briefings, independent reviews and advisory inquiries: sven.stumbauer@forwardglobal.com
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