Lukas Hönig

MLaw UZH | MAS Financial Markets Compliance HWZ

Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

About

Sanctions & Financial Crime | Decision-Relevant Risk Assessment | Post-Collapse Market Research I work at the intersection of financial crime risk, sanctions and market functioning. My background combines advisory and in-house experience within the Swiss financial industry, where I focus on complex client structures, escalation cases and risk decisions rather than purely technical reviews. My work revolves around one central question: when is a risk acceptable and under which conditions? Beyond day-to-day compliance, I am particularly interested in environments where financial systems stop behaving normally. I study what happens to asset prices when markets stop functioning. My research focuses on post-collapse economies environments where valuation, liquidity and ownership behave differently from traditional emerging markets. Instead of forecasting growth, I analyze the conditions required for transactions to exist again: price discovery, enforceability and participation. The goal is to understand when a “non-investable” market becomes investable. Current research focus: Venezuela. Professionally, I work on sanctions and financial crime topics for financial institutions, including complex customer constellations, high-risk jurisdictions and decision-relevant case assessments. I am particularly interested in the practical application of regulation where policy meets economic reality.

Experience

  • Senior Compliance Officer at Vontobel
    Dec 2025 - Present · 7 mos

    Senior Compliance professional specialising in sanctions and periodic client risk reviews within financial crime compliance. Responsible for assessing high-risk client relationships, performing enhanced due diligence (EDD) and analysing complex ownership structures to ensure compliance with international sanctions regimes (OFAC, EU, SECO). Advises front office and management on sanctions exposure, risk classification and remediation measures. Experienced in identifying hidden risk indicators, escalation handling and regulatory-driven decision making in a banking environment.

  • Co-Founder at Chilli AG
    2021 - Present · 5 yrs 6 mos

    Handel von Kryptowährungen Focus: Margin Trading

  • Berater at gwp group
    Feb 2024 - Feb 2026 · 2 yrs 1 mo

    gwp berät alle Arten von Finanzdienstleistern bei der Einhaltung von finanzmarkt- und aufsichtsrechtlichen Anforderungen, bei der Optimierung von Compliance- und Risikoprozessen sowie hinsichtlich der Übernahme der entsprechenden Funktionen. Das Dienstleistungsangebot von gwp umfasst die Unterstützung bei der Beantwortung von fachspezifischen Fragestellungen sowie das Erarbeiten und Aufzeigen von Komplettlösungen – von der Planung bis hin zur Umsetzung und Folgebetreuung.

  • Berater at Forvis Mazars in Switzerland
    Jan 2022 - Feb 2024 · 2 yrs 2 mos

    Financial Services: Governance, Risk, Compliance • Begleitung eines FINMA Mandates als Prüfungsbeauftragter • Verfassen eines Reports über die Kontrollmechanismen einer CH-Bank • Überprüfung von Insidergeschäften bei einer ausländischen Bank • Transaktionsüberprüfung (MAID) • 2nd Line Kontrolle von Bestandeskunden bei einer ausländischen Bank • Profilkontrollen von Hochrisikokunden • PEP Prozess (PEPA, PEPI, EP) • ETP (Branchen, Länder inkl. STMG) Kenntnisse bei folgenden Programmen: Avaloq, MLDS Compliance, Microsoft Dynamics AX, Pythagoras, Service Center

  • Junior Legal Associate at MME Legal | Tax | Compliance
    Feb 2019 - May 2020 · 1 yr 4 mos

    Ausführen von juristischen Arbeiten mit Fokus auf das Finanzmarkt- und Finanzmarkt-aufsichtsrecht • Koordination von Anfragen im Fintech Bereich • Research in verschiedenen Rechtsgebieten • Mitverfasser von diversen Beiträgen zum Thema Blockchain, abrufbar unter : https://www.lexology.com/17192/author/Lukas_Hoenig/?start=1