WASHINGTON, June 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Forward Global, a leading commercial and geopolitical risk management firm with expertise in financial crime forensics, risk, and intelligence, today announced that Fernando Castrejon has joined as senior advisor.

Fernando brings more than 30 years of experience across banking and financial crime compliance in Mexico and the broader Americas, with deep expertise in anti-money laundering, sanctions, and financial institution risk management. He is widely recognized for his leadership at Grupo Financiero Banorte, one of Mexico’s largest financial institutions, where he served as the head of financial crimes and led the bank’s anti-money laundering and financial crime compliance program, strengthened cross-border controls, and managed engagement with regulators including the CNBV, OFAC, and FinCEN.

His appointment comes at a pivotal moment. The U.S. government’s recent designation of cartels and transnational criminal groups as foreign terrorist organizations has significantly raised the stakes for financial institutions in Mexico and across Latin America. This heightened regulatory environment exposes institutions to increased sanctions risk and the prospect of FinCEN and OFAC enforcement tied to illicit finance.

“Mexican and Latin American institutions are now facing an unprecedented level of scrutiny, and the cost of getting it wrong has never been higher. The current risks are nothing short of existential for financial institutions,” said Castrejon. “I am pleased to join Forward Global to help clients across the region anticipate that risk, strengthen their defenses, and engage U.S. and local regulators from a position of strength.”

“It has never been more important to get financial crime compliance right in Mexico and Latin America, particularly focusing on broad program effectiveness versus only technical compliance,” said Sven Stumbauer, Partner and Americas Anti-Money Laundering & Sanctions Compliance Practice Leader at Forward Global. “With cartels now treated as terrorist organizations, the line between a compliance lapse and a sanctions violation has all but disappeared. Fernando has sat in the seat where these decisions are made, he knows where the real risks hide and how to build programs and systems that withstand scrutiny from regulators and prosecutors alike.”

MEDIA CONTACT
Nicholas Fitzgerald
nicholas.fitzgerald@forwardglobal.com

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SOURCE Forward Global