Chief Compliance Officer search for African fintech
TITC runs retained Chief Compliance Officer searches for fintech and financial services businesses across Africa. For CEOs and boards where the licence depends on getting this hire right.
The hire that keeps going wrong
You can't get the licence, or keep it, without a credible, fit and proper compliance head. The regulator holds this person personally accountable. That raises the stakes and narrows the field.
The wrong hire is the tick-box officer. Strong on paper, builds a policy library nobody uses, and falls apart in an actual inspection. The other wrong hire is the blocker, who treats compliance as a veto and slowly strangles the business.
Across markets the regulatory surface is wide. AML and CFT, FICA, sanctions screening, conduct, the NCA where credit is involved, and the equivalents in every country you operate in. A compliance leader who only knows one regime is a liability the moment you cross a border.
What good looks like
A compliance leader the regulator already respects. Who builds a risk-based programme that enables growth and survives an inspection. Who carries the FSCA, SARB or NCR relationship credibly, and the equivalent regulators in your other markets. And who sees their job as making the business safe to scale, not safe to stand still.
How we run it
We shortlist for fit and proper standing and real regulator relationships, not just compliance tenure. For licence-linked mandates we work to the regulator's timeline.
Common questions
When does a fintech need a Chief Compliance Officer?
Usually when applying for or holding a licence, or when AML, conduct and consumer-protection obligations outgrow a part-time or outsourced function. Many regulators require a named, fit and proper compliance officer as a condition.
What's the difference between compliance and risk in a fintech?
Compliance owns adherence to regulation and conduct rules. Risk owns the exposures the business takes on, like credit and fraud. They're separate functions and usually separate people once a fintech reaches scale.
Can TITC find a compliance officer the regulator will accept?
Yes. Fit and proper credibility and standing with the FSCA, SARB, NCR and central banks across Africa is a core screen on every compliance mandate we run.
Discuss a mandate
Licence riding on this hire? Let's scope it against the regulator's timeline.