Frances McLeod is a Founding Partner of FRA and head of its US offices. She is a former investment banker and has over 26 years of experience advising diverse clients on sanctions, anti-corruption, fraud, internal control, asset tracing, and money laundering issues. She is ranked among the top 100 Women in Investigations by Global Investigations Review, and recognized by Who’s Who Legal as an industry leader in its Investigations, Consulting Experts, Thought Leader and Global Elite publications, where she is described as a “highly respected expert” and “creative and extremely easy to work with.”
Frances has been deeply involved in all of FRA’s compliance monitorship work, including having recently served as the DOJ-appointed independent compliance monitor on the IAV GmbH monitorship. She has also been involved in numerous other US DOJ and SEC FCPA monitorships, a New York Department of Financial Services bank monitorship, the Ferguson City monitorship, a PCAOB monitorship and a US DOJ fraud-related mentorship.
She led the team providing technical advice to the Asia Pacific Group on money laundering under a mandate from the Asian Development Bank and has provided expert advice in terrorism financing litigation cases. She served as an expert witness on counter terror financing in litigation involving an international bank and led FRA’s UN Oil-For-Food (OFF) investigation work, including an analysis of the function of the OFF escrow account managed from New York by a global bank.
Frances has extensive experience in addressing complex international data transfer issues whether in regulatory investigations or cross border litigation. She led the FRA team responding to anticorruption investigation data requests in all jurisdictions for Alstom in the US, the UK, Brazil, Indonesia, Poland, Sweden, etc., which included addressing French data privacy and Blocking Statute issues. She is leading FRA’s GDPR compliance initiative leveraging FRA’s decades of experience in addressing data protection issues in cross-border litigation and investigation. An Oxford graduate, Frances was responsible for the design and implementation of claim evaluation and administration systems for the US$ 1.3 billion Swiss Bank and US$ 2.5 billion German Slave Labor Holocaust settlements.
Frances speaks English, German, French, and Mandarin Chinese. Prior to co-founding FRA in 1999, she worked in the mergers and acquisitions divisions of Lazard and Schroders in London and HSBC in Indonesia. She holds a Master’s degree from Wadham College, Oxford.
Frances McLeod is considered an “outstanding” practitioner within the field. She has over 25 years of experience in advising clients on anti-corruption and fraud matters on an international scale.
Who’s Who Legal Global Elite Thought Leaders 2019 and 2020
Who’s Who Legal Investigations: Forensic Accountants 2019 and 2020
Who’s Who Legal Thought Leaders 2019
Who’s Who Legal Consulting Experts: Forensic Accountants 2018 and 2019
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Responding to the GDPR Enforcement Regime, GDR Insight Handbook, Global Data Review 2020
Leveraging Forensic Accountants, The Guide to Monitorships, Global Investigations Review, 2019