KordaMentha welcomes Richard Storey and Grace Mason

Experienced practitioners Richard Storey and Grace Mason have joined the leadership team at business advisory KordaMentha.

Australia-based independent business advisory KordaMentha has further boosted the credentials of its Financial Crime practice with the recruitment of two new senior leaders; Richard Storey and Grace Mason, who respectively join as a partner and executive director.

The duo appointment follows just one month on from the firm’s purchase of respected boutique financial crime consultancy Murray Waldren.

Based out of KordaMentha’s Sydney office, Storey crosses after a brief stint as an associate partner at Ernst & Young, before which he spent seven years at Refinitiv and its Thomson Reuters’ finance and risk predecessor, where he led KYC (Know Your Customer) and was a director of AML (Anti-Money Laundering) solutions. Prior, he managed his own executive search business for over a decade.

Altogether, Storey brings more than thirty years of financial services and consulting industry experience to the firm, and was noted for having previously worked with AML regulators in Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong to drive industry-wide improvements in the prevention of financial crime at major banks and investment managers, including the Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, ANZ and NAB.

“Richard is a wonderful addition to our team and will become a real asset for our clients and their financial crime needs,” said KordaMentha partner Alice Saveneh-Murray. “Demand for AML advisory services is undoubtedly growing as enforcement action and regulatory intervention for breaches of financial crime legislation have increased the need for clients to proactively manage their regulatory risk.”

Meanwhile, Grace Mason joins KordaMentha after a 15-year career with AUSTRAC, Australia’s anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing regulator and specialist intelligence agency, where she most recently served as Director of Intelligence Capabilities. During her time with AUSTRAC, Mason has worked across operations, governance and industry throughout the ASEAN region, Europe and South Africa.

“Grace’s deep experience advising leading organisations on adhering to AML and CTF regulations while delivering client-centric strategies around new and emerging technologies is invaluable. We’re excited that she’s chosen to join us at KordaMentha to help us grow our offer in this very dynamic market,” said KordaMentha partner Rachel Waldren, who joined the firm following the sale of Murray Waldren.

According to KordaMentha, that October merger together with its latest recruits in Storey and Mason demonstrate the firm’s growth and diversification strategy. Founded as an insolvency business in 2002 by Mark Korda and Mark Mentha in the wake of the Arthur Andersen collapse, the firm recently celebrated its 20th anniversary, having grown to an international headcount of more than 400-strong over that time.