Tag: Chad Olsen

This episode focuses on how compliance and legal staff must incorporate geostrategic risk considerations into their advice and recommendations.
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In our initial Regulatory Ramblings Spotlight segment, we chat with Chad Olsen of KPMG China about what professionals in Hong Kong, Greater China, and the region need to know about such considerations.
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Following that, we speak with Mark Nuttall, an executive advisor and strategic deal facilitator in Dubai, for a more Middle Eastern perspective.

Chad Olsen

Chad Olsen is based in Hong Kong, where he is the head of forensic services for KPMG China. In that capacity, he oversees matters involving white-collar investigations, anti-money laundering, sanctions and trade controls, fraud, and disputes and arbitration.
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Before his current role, Chad was a partner at Deloitte and the head of financial crime. He was also the head of the financial crime intelligence unit at Standard Chartered Bank.

Professionally, he is a Chartered Accountant in Australia and New Zealand. Chad also holds two undergraduate degrees from Curtin University. Relevant to today’s discussion, his focus areas were accounting, finance, political science, and sociology.

 

Mark Nuttal

Mark Nuttal is an executive, geopolitical advisor, and strategic deal facilitator in Dubai. With over 25 years of experience in strategic leadership, risk management, and business development, he has held roles at the London Metropolitan Police Service, Thomson Reuters, INTERPOL, and Hill & Associates. He also founded the Faustus Consultancy.
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He offers executive advisory services across Asia-Pacific, MENA, and Europe, aiming to drive growth, optimize operations, generate deals, and enhance governance.

When it comes to risk management and governance, Mark has implemented plans focused on risk mitigation and resilience while improving governance standards. He has also managed complex investigations and multi-agency operations.
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Regarding subject matter expertise, he has delivered advisory services on governance, compliance, risk reduction, finance, leadership, geopolitics, AML, resilience, security, and ESG. Mark has also provided keynote speeches and mentorship to C-suite and geopolitical audiences.

Discussion:

The hasty U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 under the Biden administration—and the fallout that followed—along with the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the ongoing war, have created inflationary pressures in international oil, gas, and food prices, roiled global markets, and deeply hurt the economies of Western Europe, deprived of cheap Russian fuel.

One thing is certain—it has spurred a deep interest in concepts such as geostrategy, also known as geopolitics. What in an earlier age might have been called political and economic risk analysis and regarded as the remit of social scientists—economists, political scientists, and international relations specialists—is now relevant to a wider range of professions.

Most professions and organizations are increasingly finding the need to adopt an interdisciplinary approach to problem-solving because, in the modern world, myopia and compartmentalization can be fatal. In-house general counsel and compliance staff at banking and financial institutions and multinational corporations need to be cognizant of geostrategic risk factors when advising those they report to.

With that backdrop, Chad speaks with Regulatory Ramblings host Ajay Shamdasani on why geostrategic and political risk analysis should matter to the modern compliance officer and lawyer—and, ultimately, their clients. It’s no longer just about giving advice based on rules and regulations; at most multinational corporations and financial institutions, a more interdisciplinary approach is required to keep pace with broader world developments.

The conversation covers what professionals can do to become more knowledgeable about geopolitical risk, what types of remedial education may be needed, and whether it might make sense to hire a political scientist, international relations specialist, or war/security/strategic studies specialist and place them in a compliance or legal department.

“Keep up with the news from multiple reputable sources” is Chad’s key advice.

Similarly, Mark stresses greater awareness of world events by compliance, legal, and risk professionals. Given his law enforcement background, he places a great deal of emphasis on total situational awareness.

Mark also shares his personal, professional, and educational journey—recounting a time when he was homeless and had absolutely nothing. That experience made him keenly aware of the risks people are willing to take to survive—a lesson today’s political and business leaders would do well to learn.

Coming from a humble background—and never forgetting where he came from—Mark explains how geostrategic and political risk analysis enters the equation when advising family offices in Asia and the Middle East.

Regulatory Ramblings podcasts is brought to you by The University of Hong Kong—Reg/Tech Lab, HKU-SCF Fintech Academy, Asia Global Institute, and HKU-edX Professional Certificate in Fintech, with support from the HKU Faculty of Law.

Useful links in this episode:

• Follow Chad Olsen on LinkedIn

• Visit KPMG (China) website

• Follow Mark Nuttal on LinkedIn

• Visit MitKat Advisory website