Anglo Gulf Trade Bank has appointed Graham Baldock as head of financial crime compliance and money laundering reporting officer, effective February 16.

Baldock joins AGTB from HSBC, where he had worked since 2013, most recently as global head of financial crime compliance for global trade and receivables finance (GTRF), since 2016. His prior experience includes almost three years as head of Citi’s Emea global investigation unit, and six years with the Metropolitan Police as detective constable.

He is also co-chair of the ICC’s financial crime risk and policy group, which focuses on issues such as trade finance fraud, tariff evasion and sanctions compliance. The group is currently working on a paper exploring emerging issues for compliance in the new digital trade arena, with a focus on distributed ledger technology.

Based in Abu Dhabi, his new role will see him develop and implement AGTB’s financial crime risk strategy as the bank – which aims to become the world’s first digitally-enabled, data-driven trade finance institution – works to expand its presence.

An HSBC spokesperson tells GTR that the bank is currently seeking a replacement for Baldock, with a new appointment to be announced in due course. Baldock’s departure from HSBC is the latest of several, coming after Stuart Nivison, global head of client network banking, left the bank ahead of yesterday’s announcement of wide-ranging job cuts amid lacklustre annual results.

HSBC said yesterday it will slash 35,000 jobs after net profits fell by 53% year-on-year, with interim chief executive Noel Quinn saying that the bank is “taking decisive action” to reduce capital and costs in its underperforming businesses to enable continued investment in businesses with stronger returns and growth prospects.

While a source close to the matter tells GTR that the bank’s GTRF business has not been singled out for cuts, the bank will be reorganising its global functions as it seeks to focus on profitability and streamline its operations.