About

Sebastian Heine

Chief Compliance Officer & MLRO · MANTRA · Dubai, UAE

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Sebastian Heine has spent over a decade at the front of crypto compliance — first in traditional finance advisory at KPMG, then building the licensed compliance operations that others write white papers about.

Today he's CCO and MLRO at MANTRA Finance in Dubai, responsible for the regulatory infrastructure of the UAE's first licensed DeFi product under VARA. Before that: CRCO and MLRO at Northstake under Danish FSA oversight, Compliance Lead for EMEA and MENA at Amber Group across five jurisdictions, and Compliance Manager at eToro's BaFin-regulated German entity.

The SHeine Brief started because the regulatory intelligence he needed as a practitioner didn't exist in one place. 626 compliance professionals, lawyers, and digital asset executives now read it every Thursday. Free. No filler.

Expertise

EU MiCA RegulationUAE VARA FrameworkAML/CFT Program DesignAI GovernanceDigital Asset RegulationFinancial Crime PreventionRegulatory TechnologyMLRO Responsibilities

Career

Experience

Chief Compliance Officer & MLRO

MANTRA Finance

Oct 2024 – PresentCurrent

Built the compliance infrastructure for the UAE's first licensed DeFi product under VARA. Designed the AML/CFT programme, Travel Rule framework, and blockchain analytics stack from scratch. Primary MLRO and regulatory contact.

Chief Risk and Compliance Officer (CRCO) / MLRO

Northstake

Sep 2023 – Oct 2024

Promoted to CRCO. Led the full risk and compliance function for the institutional crypto staking platform under Danish FSA oversight. Sole MLRO and primary regulatory contact.

Head of Risk & Compliance / MLRO

Northstake

Mar 2023 – Sep 2023

Built the compliance programme from scratch. Implemented AML monitoring systems and go-AML reporting. Completed ISAE 3402 Type 1 audit — zero findings.

Senior Director – Compliance Lead EMEA & MENA / MLRO

Amber Group

Jun 2022 – Mar 2023

Led compliance and regulatory operations for Amber Group's EMEA and MENA markets. Appointed MLRO across multiple jurisdictions. Ran VASP licence and AMLD5 registrations across European and Middle Eastern countries. Updated global AML guidelines and provided compliance sign-off on major marketing campaigns in the region.

Compliance Manager

eToro Germany

2019 – 2022

Built and integrated KYC/AML systems at scale at eToro's BaFin-regulated German entity. Reduced manual review time by 40%. Managed MiFID II and crypto regulatory compliance.

Senior Consultant

KPMG

2016 – 2019

Financial services advisory. Specialised in regulatory compliance, financial crime risk, and AML programme design for major European banks. Remediation workstreams for Credit Suisse under NY DFS enforcement.

Education