Interview with Lucia Cook, Head of Compliance at Ctrl Alt

Meet Lucia Cook, an experienced Fintech compliance expert who is passionate about waving the flag for education and awareness on the role of compliance across financial services.

As we saw in 2023, too often, many financial services startups and scale ups have viewed compliance as an afterthought that they’ll ‘get to later’. In this interview, Lucia talks about how compliance should be the foundation of financial services businesses, her career to date and her work part-time at Ctrl Alt as Head of Compliance.

Tell Us a Little About Your Career So Far

I started my career by taking an internship in New York and working at UBS as part of the Mountbatten programme. From there, I landed a role in the UBS London office as part of the Regulatory Operations team where I joined a team building regulatory processes.

It was then a natural move into compliance at Morgan Stanley where I experienced a number of different areas across compliance including time on the trading floor covering sales and trading.

I get mixed reactions when I tell people I’m ex Morgan Stanley, but I absolutely loved my time there, it’s full of intelligent people, has a great culture of respect and the standards are unrivalled. Perhaps a big reason why I was drawn to Matt Ong, Founder and CEO of Ctrl Alt was because he was also ex Morgan Stanley!

After 7 years at Morgan Stanley, I was really ready for a big change and wanted to take a risk. Fintechs were the next big thing with the rise of challenger banks and apps and I was keen to see what it was all about. That was when I got the opportunity to join the social investment platform Shares.io as the Director of Compliance at their seed stage. Today, I’m part of the innovative team at Ctrl Alt as their Head of Compliance.

I get mixed reactions when I tell people I’m ex Morgan Stanley, but I absolutely loved my time there, it’s full of intelligent people, has a great culture of respect and the standards are unrivalled. Perhaps a big reason why I was drawn to Matt Ong, Founder and CEO of Ctrl Alt was because he was also ex Morgan Stanley!

After 7 years at Morgan Stanley, I was really ready for a big change and wanted to take a risk. Fintechs were the next big thing with the rise of challenger banks and apps and I was keen to see what it was all about. That was when I got the opportunity to join the social investment platform Shares.io as the Director of Compliance at their seed stage. Today, I’m part of the innovative team at Ctrl Alt as their Head of Compliance.

What Interested You Most To Join The Compliance Side Of The Financial Services Industry?

I think like most compliance professionals, it’s fair to say it’s not a childhood dream to become a compliance officer. I definitely fell into it, but what has made me stay is the importance of the compliance function and its criticality in enabling businesses to operate. Particularly in start-ups, the regulatory landscape can be complicated and I love the problem solving aspect. Whilst it can be quite the journey, when done right, it can really propel the business forward and the buzz and comradery from that sense of achievement is really gratifying.

Tell Us A Bit More About The Day-To-Day Role Of Compliance At A Fintech Like Ctrl Alt

My role for Ctrl Alt is predominantly leading on licensing decisions. This focuses on working out what is the best licence to get for the business, what permissions should be applied for and what that would mean for the business e.g. hiring, vendors etc.

I also focus on supporting the team on the structuring of new products. I work with the team from the early build of products to understand the regulations that may apply. This can often have a big impact on the roadmap so it is really important that compliance plays a role from the get go.

Ctrl Alt currently operates under an AR arrangement which means I also manage the AR relationship by finding ways of getting the principle up to speed with new products or introducing new compliance processes to support those.

Finally, there is a lot of due diligence that is required when you partner with a company or when you onboard new clients, a lot of this falls within my remit.

What Do You Feel Are Some Of The ‘Misconceptions’ Around The Role Of Compliance?

Where do I start…

That we’re ‘blockers’, that we don’t know how to be commercial, that we don’t know how to take risks or think outside the box, we don’t understand competing pressures and that we’re boring!

With numerous fintech startups and neobanks having to shut down or pay hefty fines due to noncompliance, it is clear that compliance needs to be at the heart of any business to succeed and not an afterthought.

What Advice Would You Give To An Early Stage Fintech Getting Started Regarding Compliance?

Great question – it’s really obvious for me as a professional in this space but get high quality advice and listen to it!

This is why I was so drawn to joining the team at Ctrl Alt, they really understand the importance from the get-go and it is testament to where they are today.

I think a lot of companies get sucked into the view that compliance is a problem for scaling and they’ll throw money at it at the ‘right time’. This will catch up with you, be incredibly costly and the reputational damage can be devastating.

Many operate under an AR model where a fractional Compliance Advisor (provided they have the right experience) can be just as beneficial as a full time “Head of” role. Put simply, there are no excuses for poor compliance, but there is room to be smart about it.

Finally, compliance people aren’t lawyers and lawyers aren’t compliance people, you’re going to need both.

On A More Personal Note, What Advice Would You Give To Someone Looking To Start A Career In Compliance?

I would tell them three things:

1. Always learn the point of any rule. What it’s trying to achieve and why was it put into place?
2. Take the time to fully understand the product / business. Ask every question you can think of. You’d be surprised what people pretend they know…
3. Trust your instincts. If something doesn’t feel right, it usually isn’t

Lastly, Outside Of The World Of Compliance, What Excites You Most About The World Of Fintech Right Now?

I think Blockchain technology is super exciting and it’s only just getting started.

Lots of people have heard of the names of blockchains because of the crypto mania but fewer understand the real problems they solve and the efficiencies they can create. So much in Fintech is driven by buzzwords and hype but I think blockchain technology is definitely here for the long term.

For example, Ctrl Alt’s solutions really show the power of blockchain to enable fractional investing in the otherwise exclusive world of alternative assets. I’m currently working with the team on our Terminal Platform product that brings this to life. It is a B2B infrastrucure product that makes investing in alternative asset classes for professionals efficient, cost effective and accessible.