Klara Belle Barnes

Klara has worked in Financial Services for 6 years, primarily focused on FCC in Insurance, Banking and Asset Management. During her career she has also worked on FCC  within a start-up environment and completed a secondment at the Regulator as a Crypto AML Specialist.

As part of these roles, she has worked with global and international banks including, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), Nationwide and Virgin Money. Klara also has experience conducting Section 166 Skilled Person Reviews on Payment Service Providers (PSPs) and Electronic Money Institutions (EMIs), including independent reviews and subsequent remediation and transformation work. Klara has a strong understanding of the UK regulatory framework, including the UK Money Laundering Regulations  and the JMLSG. 

Klara is a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and obtained her ICA Diploma in Anti-Money Laundering.

She holds a BA Law degree from the University of Pretoria in South Africa and a Bachelor of Social Sciences (Hons) in Criminology and Criminal Justice from Monash South Africa.  She is fluent in both English and her native language, Afrikaans.  Klara is passionate about mentoring and diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace.

In 2023, Klara published a Thought Leadership paper, called 'Reframing the Lense on Economic Crime: How UK Firms are Confronting Economic Abuse', which specifically delves into the treatment of customers by their respective financial institutions, who may be victims/survivors of economic abuse.