The International Compliance Association (ICA) is the leading professional body for the global regulatory and financial crime compliance community. It has short-listed Acquarius for a 2024 Team of the Year Award.

COO and Head of Compliance, Gareth Cross, comments that this prestigious industry body’s recognition is a tribute to Acquarius in general and especially to its compliance team, led by Andrew Skillicorn.  

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The ICA, based in the UK, have short-listed Acquarius for this year’s Small Compliance Team of the Year (<5 team members) – Financial Services award. The annual awards recognise and celebrate internal compliance and financial crime prevention teams. They concentrate on firms who go over and above to collaborate, innovate and raise compliance standards across the globe.

The ICA’s stated aim is that the awards promote best practice, championing the profession and highlighting the importance of compliance and financial crime prevention. This is ever more critical given today’s constantly changing regulatory, geopolitical and business environment.

Gareth explains that Acquarius enjoys a well-deserved reputation for high quality, effective compliance. Much of the credit for this is due to the determined efforts of the team led by Compliance Officer and Money Laundering Reporting Officer, Andrew Skillicorn. This example percolates through the entire Gibraltar team, encouraging staff to maintain similarly high standards throughout the business. It is in fact notable that the entire leadership team at Acquarius have obtained the Gibraltar Association of Compliance Officer (GACO) Professional Compliance Certificate.

Gareth said, “Andy has a wealth of relevant financial services experience. His work ethic and determination ensure both client matters and internal compliance work are maintained at a consistently high standard”.

Undoubtedly, this has contributed massively to the overall reputation Acquarius enjoys today leading to the ICA short-listing. The recognition is important not just for Acquarius’ business but also its staff in general and more widely for “Gibraltar plc” as a whole. It is especially welcome in light of the recent FATF grey listing removal.

Gareth points out that whilst award success is gratifying, by no means does it tell the whole story. Awards merely provide a snapshot of how the industry views a business at a particular moment in time. It is vital to keep up the good work and to maintain the high standards reached.

It is particularly important that the firm exercises care at all times to ensure complacency does not set in. Acquarius has introduced an extensive range of business initiatives in recent years. The changes have affected the business from top to bottom. Gareth acknowledges that once a firm has reached the highest standards, it is challenging to maintain them constantly. However, Acquarius benefits from an incredible team spirit. This means that everyone can participate whilst feeling they are all pulling in the same direction.

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Gareth added "it remains of the utmost importance to ensure that compliance continues to be considered a business enabler. This comes with having a granular understanding of all relevant legislation, and why it has been drafted. Compliance is not a box ticking exercise, it must be focused, friction should be removed where possible and it should add value to our service offering and the client experience. We will continue to consider it an opportunity to drive business growth and competitive advantage."

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Gareth and the wider leadership team at Acquarius are delighted that the firm will progress to the next stage in the ICA award process. ICA will reveal the winners at the end of June. Gareth says that, of course, he hopes that Acquarius will come out on top at the award ceremony. However, simply being short-listed is a victory in itself. It is something of which Andrew Skillicorn and the whole Acquarius team should be rightly proud.

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Acquarius continues to provide regular updates on local and international industry related issues. In meantime for any information about Acquarius and its extensive range of services, please contact us.

Readers may learn more about the ICA and its important work at www.int-comp.org.