Maria Llontop Garcia - Partner

Maria Llontop Garcia is Partner and AML/CTF Risk and Compliance Specialist at ARevolution.

Maria was introduced to Financial Crime over a decade ago and was attracted to the meaningful impact that monitoring and managing ML/TF risk has on customers, organisations and ultimately our communities. She was quickly made aware of the challenges that the industry face when implementing the constant change on regulatory requirements in an efficient and effective manner. This provided her with the opportunity to combine her passion for fighting against financial crime, her skills and expertise in operational process improvement and her customer-centric 'obsession'.

Maria has worked for some of the major banks implementing several AML/CTF programs and regulatory changes, leading the implementation of Target Operating Models and the creation and roll-out of AML/CTF Centres of Excellence. She has also provided assurance over regulatory requirements implemented and has led the transformation of the First Line Monitoring and Assurance Function.

Maria thrives with a new challenge and she is always eager to tackle any opportunity to grow and learn. Through her career she has become a Subject Matter Expert in AML/CTF regulatory requirements, and specifically in how to operationalise these within the First Line of Defence. She has led others to succeed by coaching her colleagues and managers and this has put her in a strategic position to become a “team builder”.

Quality, problem-solving, expertise, passion and constantly striving for “better” are some of the key words used to describe Maria by those who have and are working with her.

Maria holds a Bachelor Degree in History and Social and Cultural Anthropology, which explains her interest in organisational culture and underlines her approach to embedding effectively a compliant attitude within business practices.