Hera U. Smith is a Director for Financial Crime Compliance Practice at Moody’s. As an industry practice lead, she focuses on regulatory developments and market trends in Sanctions, AML and other areas of FinCrime, translating them into product capabilities and thought leadership. Hera has extensive experience in Sanctions, AML, and Financial Crime. She has built and headed global sanctions programs for financial institutions in the US and Europe. Additionally, she was the Co-chair of the ACFCS Nordics Chapter and a facilitator of the US State Department’s Sanctions Capacity Building Workshops in countries all over the world. 

Before joining Moody’s, Hera worked at Danske Bank, where she developed the sanctions program and managed external commitments to regulators globally. She also headed the Global Sanctions Program at Associated Foreign Exchange, now known as Corpay, and before that, East West Bank. In her early career, she worked as a litigation lawyer, and is a licensed attorney in California and the Philippines. She is a Certified Anti Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) a Certified Global Sanctions Specialist (CGSS) and a Certified Sanctions Specialist (CSS). She also has an International Diploma in Governance, Risk & Compliance from the International Compliance Association (ICA) and helped draft the sanctions certifications exams for ACSS and ACAMS.