Ignite Partners: What Every VC Needs to Know About Compliance Risk with Ravi de Silva | Ep182

Ravi de Silva is the founder of DeRisk Partners and a seasoned compliance expert with a global track record, having led financial crimes compliance at Citi and held senior roles at JPMorgan and American Express. With deep experience navigating regulatory environments across the U.S., Europe, and Asia, he now helps banks, credit unions, and fintechs build scalable, strategic compliance infrastructures. In this episode, he shares what most founders get wrong about compliance, where AI can trip you up, and why sanctions are a bigger deal than you think.In Today’s Episode We Discuss:00:01 Intro and Ravi’s background01:04 Early career journey and transition into compliance02:38 Lessons from Citi and JPMorgan04:11 Founding DeRisk Partners05:27 Why startups delay compliance07:39 The AI audit gap in fintech09:24 Risks in sponsor bank partnerships11:20 Sanctions compliance and secondary exposure13:42 Global expansion to Switzerland, Dubai, and Singapore15:35 Using AI in compliance workflows17:34 Challenges of selling compliance globally20:10 Compliance red flags for VCs22:05 Regulatory trends: MiCA, VARA, and global crackdowns23:31 U.S. crypto regulation and the Genius Act25:08 Balancing speed and compliance in early-stage startupsSubscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/ignite-podcastSubscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ignite-conversations-on-startups-venture-capital-tech/id1709248824Follow Ravi de Silva on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ravidesilva-derisk/Follow Team Ignite on X: https://twitter.com/ignitevcFollow Brian on X: https://x.com/brianrbellFollow Brian on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bblinkedin/Visit Our Website: https://www.teamignite.venturesSubscribe to Our Newsletter: https://insights.teamignite.ventures/👂🎧 Watch, listen, and follow on your favorite platform: https://tr.ee/S2ayrbx_fL 🙏 Join the conversation on your favorite social network: https://linktr.ee/theignitepodcast