International Advisory Board

Advocate Xolisile Khanyile is a career prosecutor having served different roles for a period of 23 years. Xolisile served in the Asset Forfeiture Unit for a period of more than 5 years and was appointed by the President of South Africa as a Director of Public Prosecutions for a period of 8 years.

From January 2018 to August 2023, she held the position of Director of the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC). During her tenure she also served as the Vice Chair of the Egmont Group and then was promoted to the position of Chair. Xolisile led the South African delegation at the FATF meetings and at the G20 Anti-Corruption Working Group meetings during her tenure in the FIC.

Xolisile has conducted numerous training sessions, both nationally and internationally, to prosecutors, law enforcement, civil society, regulators, and the financial sector, amongst many others. Amongst the numerous training opportunities she has led, Xolisile has also provided training on financial crimes, sexual offences, asset forfeiture, corruption, human trafficking, transnational organised crime, combatting money laundering and terrorist financing, FATF standards, and environmental matters to several African countries as well as globally. Xolisile has been a guest speaker and a speaker at several international conferences such as the Interpol 90 General Assembly, Wolfsberg Annual Conference, United for Wildlife Global Summit hosted by Lord Hague.

Xolisile led the establishment of the Fusion Centre in South Africa and the first Public Private Partnership in Africa, the SAMLIT. Xolisile was awarded the Financial Crime Fighter of the year for 2022 by the Global Coalition To Fight Financial Crime. On 30 August 2023 she was appointed as the Chair of the African Chapter of the Coalition. On 5 December 2023 the Compliance Institute of Southern Africa awarded her the INKANYEZI award in recognition of her commitment to the fight against financial crimes. Early February 2024 Xolisile was appointed as the Chair of the United for Wildlife Financial Taskforce of the Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales.

Xolisile holds a B Juris, LLB, LLM and MDP from the Business School of the University of Free State. She attended the Duke University African Women Chartered Accountants course in 2015 and graduated in 2016.

Currently Xolisile is the Director of Langelihle Consultants that does training on AML\CFT, and any other financial crime matters as well as ethics. In this capacity Xolisile has spoken at several regional and international forums such as the Women in Financial Crime Conference hosted by AML Intelligence, the London Stock Exchange FICA Conference, the Qatar Compliance Conference, the Namibian Standard Bank Anti-Financial Conference amongst others.

Xolisile is currently also registered as a Senior Expert with the European Union AML\CFT Global Facility where she facilitates and gives training on Immediate Outcome 6 to Financial Intelligence Units and Law Enforcement Agencies. On 31 October 2024 the South African Minister of Finance appointed Xolisile to be a member of the Financial Services Tribunal and the Financial Intelligence Centre Appeal Board.

Richard Daniels is a senior Financial Services Executive with deep expertise in establishing robust frameworks against economic crime within large, complex, and highly regulated international institutions. He possesses extensive experience delivering major transformation programmes (£100m+) and leading multi-jurisdictional operations (4000+ FTE) focused on Financial Crime, Sanctions, and Fraud prevention.

Richard has a strong track record in maturing organisational capabilities in crucial areas underpinning financial transparency, including Customer Due Diligence (CDD), Transaction Monitoring, and Screening. He has successfully led the design and implementation of effective financial crime operating models across numerous jurisdictions and business units, navigating intense regulatory oversight and delivering sustainable, efficient compliance solutions. His experience includes defining governance structures and driving strategic operational improvements.

Having held senior leadership roles at major UK, European and Nordic banks, including Director of Economic Crime and Head of Group Financial Crime Prevention, Richard brings practical, strategic insight into the challenges of implementing effective anti-financial crime measures globally. His experience in managing large transformations, leading diverse teams, and engaging with regulatory bodies provides valuable perspective relevant to advancing beneficial ownership transparency worldwide.

Cheri-Leigh Erasmus serves as Co-CEO and Chief Learning and Agility Officer at the Accountability Lab, a nonprofit organization working to make governance work for people by supporting active citizens, responsible leaders, and accountable institutions across Africa, South Asia, and Latin America.

She is a seasoned international development professional with experience in the governance and education sectors. Her work has focused on collaborating with communities, civil society, and public service innovators to catalyse reforms that strengthen governance and improve accountability. Cheri-Leigh is particularly committed to using emerging technology and citizen-generated data to bolster civic participation and counter corruption, with a focus on increasing the inclusion and agency of traditionally marginalised groups.

In addition to her primary role, she has a longstanding interest in organisational governance, growth, and sustainability, and brings board experience across nonprofit, philanthropic, and corporate organisations.

Mitali Tyagi advises governments across the Asia-Pacific on robust systems to combat illicit financial flows. She has a deep interest in policy issues surrounding anti-corruption efforts, including beneficial ownership information, financial inclusion & de-risking, and robust regulation of financial service providers. She specialises in international law and international frameworks governing trade, finance and investment.

She is currently Director at the Asia-Pacific regional body of the Financial Action Taskforce; and has previously worked with the Australian Attorney-General's Department, King & Wood Mallesons, Cape York Land Council and the International Development Law Organisation.

Anushka Wijesinha is an economist with experience in Government, private sector and think tanks. He is the Co-founder/Director of Centre for a Smart Future, an interdisciplinary public policy think tank in Sri Lanka. In 2023, he was appointed to the Governing Board and Monetary Policy Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

Anushka has guided trade, investment, and competitiveness reforms in many countries ranging from Africa to Asia, consulting for international organizations. Most recently, he worked in Mongolia, Pakistan, Rwanda and Kenya.

He previously served in a top government role as Advisor to the Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade, where he led economic reforms on exports, investment, and innovation. He has also been the Chief Economist of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Sri Lanka’s largest private sector industry body, and Research Economist at the Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, an apex think tank.

In the private sector, Anushka has experience on several corporate boards in the financial services industry including Fairfirst Insurance Ltd, and previously Seylan Bank PLC and HNB Finance PLC.

In government, he has served on the Council of the National Innovation Agency, the Export Development Board, and the Oversight Committee on Exports and FDI at the Presidential Secretariat.

Anushka was a member of the World Economic Forum's Global Future Council on Innovation Ecosystems and was an Asia Foundation Development Fellow at the Korea Development Institute in Seoul.

Anushka holds a Masters in Economics from University of Leeds, BSc in Economics from University College London, and is an alumnus of the Harvard Kennedy School’s ‘Leading Economic Growth’ executive programme.