Former US special agent Dan McWilliams joins FTI Consulting

FTI Consulting has strengthened its financial crime team in the Middle East with Dan McWilliams – a former US special agent with a thirty-year track record in law enforcement.

The global consulting firm is a well-known next career step for former US special agents across its offices in 30+ countries, with FTI Consulting’s global team boasting many former top government law enforcement officials and high-ranked members of American agencies including the CIA and FBI.

In the case of Dan McWilliams, he brings more than 30 years of diversified law enforcement experience in both the United States and internationally (Europe and the Middle East) to the firm.

After spending two decades at the US Internal Revenue Service, including sixteen years as a special agent focused on planning, conducting and supervising complex financial investigations, he spent years as a diplomatic Attaché for the US Embassy in London and Dubai, developing solutions for investigative matters throughout the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.

McWilliams was also a member of the New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, working on terrorism and national security investigations relating to complex financial issues, and coordinating investigative activity with foreign governments.

“We are delighted to welcome Dan to the team. His knowledge and vast experience will benefit clients in the region with their complex financial crime investigations and compliance matters, particularly as the landscape and our clients' needs are continuously evolving,” said Wayne Anthony, a Senior Managing Director and Middle East Head of Forensic Accounting & Advisory Services at FTI Consulting.

Appointed a Managing Director in the Forensic and Litigation Consulting division, McWilliams will focus on advising a wide range of global clients specialising in complex criminal tax and money laundering investigations.

McWilliams joins the world of consulting at a time of heightened demand for financial crime expertise, with the number of incidents at an all-time high, according to a recent report.

As a result, governments and regulators in the region are increasingly scrutinising business crime enforcement, in part due to international pressure. In March 2022, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) – the intergovernmental organisation established in 1989 to tackle financial crime – placed the UAE on its ‘grey list’ of countries, and urged the government to “address strategic deficiencies in their regimes to counter money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing.”

From its Middle East offices in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar, FTI Consulting helps private sector clients prevent, track down and act upon financial crime through a range of forensic, risk and technology services. On the government side, the consultancy helps with work leading up to law enforcement.

“In some sectors in the Middle East, financial crime has presented a significant problem; however, with better public-private cooperation, increased international scrutiny, and better access to financial information, investigators are gaining traction in the pursuit of criminals,” said McWilliams.

FTI Consulting is a leader in the segment, according to ConsultancyME’s 2022 benchmark of consultancies in the forensic landscape.

“Continuing to build our expertise in the financial crime and financial crime compliance space is an important growth strategy for FTI Consulting in the Middle East,” concluded Anthony.