Leonard McCarthy has been in the business of risk management, litigation, anti-corruption and integrity due diligence for more than twenty years.

Appointed as Integrity Vice-Presidency (INT), Leonard McCarthy led his office to anchor the World Bank’s mission of directing economic development and eradicating poverty, by ensuring that funds are used for their intended purpose.

In 2009, McCarthy paved the way for the World Bank’s first negotiated settlement, enabling the institution to deal more expediently with companies that admit wrongdoing. Under McCarthy’s management, the World Bank launched the International Corruption Hunters Alliance (ICHA), and also brokered a landmark cross-debarment agreement with other Multilateral Development Banks, resulting in the cross-debarment of 600 entities to date.

As Vice President for Integrity, McCarthy served on the World Bank’s Stolen Asset Recovery (StAR) management panel and played a crucial role in steering the Bank’s Governance and Anti-corruption (GAC) Agenda.

He had transformed the Bank’s Integrity Vice-Presidency into a flagship global function, based on its impact on governments and the private sector, and through working arrangements and agreements with the U.S Justice Department, the U.K Serious Fraud Office, the European Anti-Fraud Office, the United Nations Agencies, other Multilateral Development Banks, and Interpol.

In his prior professional life, McCarthy was appointed by former President Nelson Mandela as a Director of Public Prosecutions in 1998, after which he succeeded as Director for the Office of Serious Economic Offences in June 2000. He then became Head of South Africa’s Directorate of Special Operations (DSO) in 2003, overseeing crime analysis, investigation, prosecution, asset forfeiture and civil litigation. During his tenure, the DSO secured convictions in major pursuits involving corporate wrongdoing, grand corruption, organized crime, and urban terrorism; and interdicted record amounts of proceeds of crime, financial assets, drugs and other contraband.

He is the founder and president of LF MCCARTHY ASSOCIATES, Inc. (LFM), an international integrity risk management company based in Washington, D.C. LFM specializes in advising corporations, public institutions and international organizations about how to prevent, mitigate and resolve integrity risks. He has extensive strategic contacts and worldwide credibility as an objective sounding board. McCarthy’s expertise lies in negotiations, a firm grasp of global dynamics, and the ability to navigate the intersection between law, business, politics and ethics.

Bankers and Financial Executives