Libra Poaches Top Credit Suisse Crime-Fighter

The bank’s top anti-money laundering executive is leaving for Facebook-backed payments project Libra.

Sterling Daines is leaving Credit Suisse for Libra, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. The bank had poached Daines three years ago from Goldman Sachs to run its financial crime compliance, or FCC, activities under top compliance boss Lydie Hudson.

He is the latest representative from traditional finance to head for Libra, an upstart payments system governed by a Swiss-based association. Last month, Libra said it is hiring HSBC’s top lawyer Stuart Levey as its CEO, and also tapped the weighty support of Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund.

Neither Daines nor Libra responded to a request for comment. A 2018 sanction from Swiss watchdog Finma for several money-laundering scandals fell in the early days of Daines’ tenure at Credit Suisse.

The Swiss bank is poised to replace him with Tam Ludford, a 12-year Credit Suisse veteran who will add the job to his current role as global head of core compliance, surveillance, and investigations.