Sarah Watson is a managing director in K2 Integrity’s Financial Crimes Compliance and Strategic Advisory practices. She helps a wide range of clients combat illicit finance through innovative, dynamic, and flexible anti-money laundering/combatting the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) programs. Sarah works with financial institution clients to review and improve their financial crime compliance policies and practices to more effectively and efficiently prevent abuse and to ensure compliance with U.S. and global requirements, including Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), and Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) obligations. She also helps jurisdictional clients prepare for Financial Action Task Force (FATF) assessments by providing strategic guidance, reviewing and revising laws and regulations, conducting trainings in FATF standards, and preparing government authorities to undergo the assessment process.
Prior to rejoining K2 Integrity, Sarah served as a bank examiner within the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC) Large Bank Supervision division. As part of the residential AML/CFT and consumer compliance team responsible for one of the world’s largest and most global financial institutions, Sarah conducted examinations of all aspects of the bank’s AML/CFT and OFAC compliance programs, including as part of targeted and ongoing supervision and through validation of Matters Requiring Attention.
Sarah holds a J.D. from Yale Law School, an M.A. in security studies from Georgetown University, and an A.B. from Harvard College.
