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Ali Moghaddam draws on his experience as an FBI agent and Assistant District Attorney to redefine the role of the Chief Risk Officer - not as a "no-man" but as a strategic enabler of growth.
His core investigative mindset driven by curiosity and a commitment to asking the hard questions helps him build proactive, comprehensive risk management frameworks that are integral to institutional success.
Moghaddam warns that with AI, the landscape of financial crime is changing fast. No longer limited to state actors, even small criminal groups now use sophisticated tools. In response, financial institutions must also adopt AI, not only to keep pace but to shift from reactive defenses to predictive risk detection. He emphasizes that risk is a "team sport," requiring deep integration between risk, compliance, legal, and business lines—and it’s culture, not just structure, that makes this integration work.
Collaboration, communication, and shared accountability are the foundation for managing today's interconnected threats.
Ali M Moghaddam, JD/MBA.: Ali is a highly qualified executive with over 20 years of experience in both the public and private sectors. Ali currently serves as the Chief Legal & Risk Officer at the City National Bank of Florida, overseeing the risk programs throughout the institution. Ali began his career in the private sector as the Head of Investigations for the Americas, at UBS Financial Services, where he helped build an investigations team that was the ultimate escalation point for all BSA/AML and OFAC related matters. Following his time at UBS, Ali became the BSA/AML and OFAC Officer at the City National Bank in Los Angeles. Ali has a legal, law enforcement, and intelligence background and began his career working in the public sector. Ali worked as a special agent for the FBI assigned to the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) and Violent Criminal Multinational Organizations (VCMO) squad. During his time at the FBI, Ali was involved in various types of investigations including material support of terrorism, foreign & domestic terrorism, violent crime & criminal organization, counter-proliferation matters, sanctions/IEEPA violations, terrorist financing, and counterintelligence investigations. Ali and his teams were able to garner several indictments including indictments for terrorism financing, material support to terrorism, money laundering and related drug trafficking offenses, Medicare fraud, and sanctions/IEEPA violations. Before leaving for the private sector, Ali spent his last few years in the public sector on the joint FBI/CIA high-value target squad. Ali began his career as an Assistant District Attorney (ADA) in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania where he was ultimately assigned to the office’s Major Crimes Division. Ali received his bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), completed his master’s degree at California State University at Los Angeles (Cal State LA) in Near Eastern and Latin American Colonial history. He received his Juris Doctorate (JD) from Temple University School of Law and received his master’s degree in business administration (MBA) from UCLA Anderson School of Management. Ali is involved in his community and volunteers at the Boy’s and Girl’s club, the Special Olympics, Patches South Florida and the United Way. He also serves as the President of the City National of Bank Housing Foundation, an organization dedicated to helping low- and moderate-income families find affordable housing in Florida. Ali is a member of the Pennsylvania and New Jersey bars.
