Paysafe appoints Richard Swales as Chief Risk Officer

Global payments provider, Paysafe Group (Paysafe), announces the appointment of Richard Swales as its Chief Risk Officer, effective October 14, 2019. Swales will be based in the company’s Dublin office in Ireland, which opened earlier this year. Swales, who will report to Paysafe CEO Philip McHugh, will assume overall responsibility for the group’s global risk strategy, comprising its enterprise, merchant and consumer risk functions. Swales is a seasoned leader who brings over 30 years’ experience of the risk industry to the role. He joins Paysafe from PayPal, where he spent the last nine years in various roles, leading its global risk, compliance and governance strategy. During this time, he served on a number of boards of PayPal regulated entities and was instrumental in supporting significant growth for PayPal’s business. Swales started his career working in the public sector as an officer for the UK’s HM Customs & Excise before moving on to leadership roles in high-profile banking, commercial finance, insurance, telecoms and payments organisations based in Europe, Asia and the US. Philip McHugh, CEO of Paysafe, commented: “Paysafe has a strong track record of specialising in niche, highly regulated segments and verticals. This is something that differentiates us, and it also means we need to continue our laser focus on maintaining an industry-leading risk strategy. I am delighted that someone of Richard’s calibre and experience is joining our leadership team and I’m confident that he will be a huge asset as we continue to grow and focus on accelerating our strategy as the global, specialised payments provider.” Richard Swales added: “I am delighted to be joining Paysafe at such an exciting time in its growth journey. Paysafe has a fantastic track record of serving specialised verticals and offers one of the most differentiated payments portfolios in the industry. On top of this, the chance to work with Philip and such an ambitious and focused team presents a truly exciting opportunity. I am very much looking forward to playing a role in the ongoing growth of the Paysafe business.”