Joseph E. Evans is a senior managing director in Guidepost Solutions’ Global Investigations + Regulatory Compliance practice. He brings more than 30 years of leadership in financial crime compliance, regulatory enforcement, and federal law enforcement, with a career built around guiding top tier financial institutions through periods of intense regulatory scrutiny. Mr. Evans has served as a trusted advisor to boards, chief executives, and regulators, and is fluent in English and Spanish.
At Guidepost, Mr. Evans focuses on financial crime risk management, anti-money laundering (AML) and Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) compliance, sanctions programs, and regulatory remediation for banking and financial services clients. His practice extends to emerging areas of financial regulation, including digital asset and cryptocurrency compliance and the regulatory treatment of prediction markets. He advises clients on building resilient compliance frameworks, responding to enforcement actions, and designing governance structures that hold up under regulatory and board level scrutiny.
Mr. Evans most recently served as Americas Head of Anti Financial Crime and BSA/AML Officer for Deutsche Bank, where he oversaw the Anti Financial Crimes Risk Management Framework across the United States and Latin America. He previously served as Global Head of Financial Crimes Operations for Mitsubishi Union Financial Group, and as Executive Officer of Global Financial Crime Compliance for HSBC Holdings Plc, one of the world’s largest global banks, during a period of intense regulatory scrutiny under a Deferred Prosecution Agreement. Earlier in his career, Mr. Evans held senior leadership positions with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, including Regional Director for North and Central America and Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Division, and served as an infantry and reconnaissance officer in the United States Marine Corps.
Across these roles, Mr. Evans built and led global financial crimes divisions spanning transaction monitoring, screening, Know Your Customer (KYC) due diligence, and intelligence and investigations functions. He designed enterprise-wide financial crimes risk management frameworks and risk appetite statements, served as a Chief Data Officer overseeing global data governance standards, and built financial crimes training academies used across first- and second-line functions. He has led regulatory remediation programs, scaled global compliance operations across dozens of countries, and directed complex international narcotics and money laundering investigations that resulted in the dismantling of transnational criminal organizations.
Mr. Evans holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering Technology from the University of Alabama and is a Certified Anti Money Laundering Specialist through ACAMS. He serves on the Board of Governors and Directors of the Marine Corps Association.
