ACAMS Australasian Chapter Feb 2026 Virtual Event: Beyond Compliance: The Strategic “Why” Behind Australia's Financial Crime Prevention

Crispin is an award-winning financial crime risk and compliance specialist with over 20 years' experience in regulatory compliance, risk controls, governance and assurance. He is the Director of Custos Advisory, an independent financial crime risk advisory practice.

Crispin's career bridges financial institutions and professional services, with rare expertise in remediating deficiencies arising from OFAC and AUSTRAC enforcement actions. This distinguishes him as one of very few professionals with such experience in the Asia-Pacific region. At Ria Financial Services, he was recruited to remediate, redesign and rebuild the regional AML/CTF and Sanctions program, successfully resolving the AUSTRAC enforcement in 2014, an achievement that earned him the HEROES award from Euronet. At ANZ Bank, while seconded from Deloitte, he played a key role in remediating the bank's OFAC sanctions enforcement involving trade finance transactions with Sudan and Cuba, contributing to a substantial reduction in OFAC's extraterritorial penalty. He also advised on Westpac's AML/CTF and financial crime remediation, one of the largest AUSTRAC enforcement responses in Australian history.

Crispin previously held compliance and advisory roles at AMP, Deutsche Bank, Commonwealth Bank, Ernst & Young and OCBC Bank.

Beyond his advisory work, Crispin has contributed to international policy and standard-setting. His contributions as an expert speaker to the United Nations Ad Hoc Committee on Cybercrime helped inform the development and adoption of the United Nations Convention against Cybercrime by the UN General Assembly in 2024. He has twice been called to brief the Australian Parliament, as an industry witness before the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement's Inquiry into Financial Related Crime (2014) and its Inquiry into the Capability of Law Enforcement to Respond to Money Laundering and Financial Crime (2025). He co-authored Intersections: Building Blocks of a Global Strategy Against Organized Crime (2024) as a member of the Global Organized Crime Steering Committee of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, working alongside UN representatives and delegations to the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. In 2024, he was also invited to join the Vancouver Anti-Corruption Institute (VACI) as a VACI Expert.

Crispin holds CAMS, CAMS-Audit, CISSP and CISA certifications. He is part of ACAMS' global teaching faculty and co-authored study guides and exam questions for CAMS, CAMS-Audit and CGSS. He authored FATF Review of Standards, 2010 - 2011 (available on Amazon), has taught International Financial Crime to Master's degree students at the University of Sydney, and teaches Risk Management at Nanyang Polytechnic. His articles have been published by Thomson Reuters and LexisNexis, and he has been interviewed by ABC News, South China Morning Post and BBC News.

Crispin has served the ACAMS Australasian Chapter since 2007. The Chapter has received the ACAMS Chapter of the Year Award twice, in 2018 and 2024, and remains the first and only chapter globally to have won this award twice.

Email: crispin@amlsanctions.com

Stephen Dametto commenced his appointment as the NSW Crime Commissioner on 24 February 2026.

Stephen brings nearly three decades of experience in Australian and international law enforcement. He has led major operations targeting serious and organised crime, counter terrorism, money laundering, cybercrime, and transnational criminal activity.

Before joining the NSW Crime Commission, Stephen served in the Australian Federal Police (AFP) as Assistant Commissioner Eastern Command, overseeing the AFP's largest regional command including significant national investigations and operations. Before leading Eastern Command, Stephen was the AFP's Commander of Counter Terrorism Investigations East, overseeing AFP's involvement in joint counter terrorism teams in NSW, Victoria, Queensland and the ACT. In the role, he built specialist capabilities in online threat analysis, behavioural science, and countering terrorism financing to support Australia's counter terrorism efforts.

His career includes senior operational roles in the United Kingdom, including with the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command and the National Crime Squad (now the National Crime Agency), focusing on combatting terrorism and serious and organised crime, as well as playing a leading role in Australia’s investigative response to the MH17 disaster in Ukraine.

Stephen has also practised as a barrister in NSW, specialising in criminal law, proceeds of crime, administrative law, and inquests. He holds a Master of Studies (MSt) in Applied Criminology and Police Management from the University of Cambridge and qualifications as a Chartered Accountant. He is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Across all roles, Stephen has led organisational reforms and national initiatives that promote high performance and maximise operational effect. He is committed to integrity, public safety, and community-focused leadership.

Mr Brendan Thomas commenced his 5-year appointment as AUSTRAC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) on 29 January 2024.

As AUSTRAC CEO, Brendan leads Australia’s financial intelligence unit and anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) regulator.

AUSTRAC’s regulation hardens the financial sector against criminal exploitation and its intelligence provides crucial information to its national security, domestic and international law enforcement partners.

Brendan is AUSTRAC’s representative on the ACIC Board, the Serious Financial Crime Taskforce CEO Board, and the Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Forum. In view of AUSTRAC’s role as a member of the National Intelligence Community (NIC), Brendan is also responsible for agency head-level engagement with the Office of National Intelligence and other NIC members.

Brendan is a Wiradjuri man, with significant experience in leading, designing and delivering major public services, especially in the criminal and civil justice systems in NSW, and in leading organisational reform.

Ahead of his commencement with AUSTRAC, Brendan served as a Deputy Secretary at the NSW Department of Communities and Justice, with responsibility for implementing major changes to reduce the over-representation of the Indigenous population in the NSW criminal and child protection systems. Prior to this, Brendan was the CEO of Legal Aid NSW and was formerly the Deputy Secretary at the NSW Department of Justice.

Brendan has a Bachelor of Arts from Macquarie University and is a fellow of the Australian and New Zealand School of Government.