Maria Lingham is a Regulatory Compliance and Financial Crime specialist with more than 17 years of experience across Bermuda, the Caribbean, and the UK, advising financial institutions, regulators, and global organizations on overall Compliance, Anti Money Laundering (AML), Anti-Terrorist Financing (ATF), Counter Proliferation Finance (CPF), Anti-bribery and Corruption (ABC), Sanctions, Fraud Risk Management (FRM), and Financial Investigations.
She previously served as Head of Financial Crime Compliance and the Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO) at a Bermuda bank, where she led the financial crime compliance function, oversaw the bank’s financial crime risk framework, and managed regulatory engagement with the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA).
Maria works with clients across Bermuda and the Caribbean, leading regulatory compliance and financial crime projects in the insurance, banking, digital assets, and trust sectors. Recent client work undertaken includes:
- Compliance and Financial Crime transformation projects;
- Customer Due Diligence (CDD) file remediation projects;
- Enterprise and Business Risk Assessments;
- Sanctions remediations;
- AML/ATF/CPF and Sanctions audits and independent reviews;
- Regulatory onsites;
- Fraud investigations;
- Develops compliance frameworks;
- Control assessments and remediations;
- Delivers training to Boards and senior leaders.
She also brings extensive investigative experience, having led complex fraud and financial crime investigations and supported clients through regulatory change. Her combination of industry leadership, regulatory insight, and cross-sector experience makes her a trusted advisor in financial crime compliance.