About

Part of the American multinational financial services company Western Union, Western Union Payment Services Ireland Limited (WUPSIL)’s line of business focuses on the operation of payments services. Feidhlimidh Wrafter has held the dual role of head of legal and compliance since 2013. In fulfilling the legal side of his role, Wrafter is the key adviser to WUPSIL’s board and senior management regarding all governance, legal and regulatory affairs matters in order to mitigate and manage risk across all 30 EEA jurisdictions in which it operates in. Recent challenges Wrafter continues to help the company overcome include the implications of Brexit and the increasing competition and digital trends within the payment sector. ‘Each of these has been proactively managed through briefings and consultation with business management to ensure the business is supported as it makes strategic commercial decisions to minimise risk to revenue and growth’, says Wrafter. The compliance element of his role has seen Wrafter establish and manage a regulatory compliance function ensuring WUPSIL’s payment services licence obligations and commitments to the Central Bank of Ireland and European regulators are adhered to. To handle the latest regulatory developments in anti-money laundering, Wrafter designed and implemented sophisticated compliance programs. ‘Individual projects and compliance programs have been established to proactively address each of these in order to ensure we are ready to meet new requirements as they come into effect’, says Wrafter. Before joining WUPSIL, Wrafter was at IBRC (formerly Anglo Irish Bank) for one year as senior counsel and head of legacy in charge of on the most significant public interest litigations involving address ongoing litigation involving the capitalised bank. Prior to that, he established his career as a litigation and dispute resolution and financial services advisory expert at leading law firm A&L Goodbody between 1999 and 2001.