NALA Appoints Former TerraPay Compliance Chief Ashraf Aly as Global Head of Compliance and Riskx

November 3, 2026 • FinTech News

NALA has appointed Ashraf Aly to lead global compliance and risk across its consumer app and Rafiki stablecoin payments infrastructure. The appointment comes as stablecoin-based cross-border payments expand and regulatory expectations continue to develop across major markets.

NALA, a global stablecoin payments company, has appointed Ashraf Aly as its Global Head of Compliance & Risk.

Aly will lead compliance and risk across the NALA app and Rafiki, the company’s stablecoin payments infrastructure for banks and enterprises. He will oversee the global compliance strategy covering anti-money laundering, sanctions, consumer protection, licensing, and financial crime.

The appointment comes as NALA seeks to expand Rafiki’s enterprise reach and open new payment corridors. As stablecoins become more prominent in cross-border payments, financial institutions and enterprise customers need confidence that transactions meet regulatory and operational standards.

Aly brings more than 15 years of experience across regulated financial services, payments, consumer technology, and compliance. Most recently, he served as Group Head of Compliance at TerraPay, a global cross-border payments network.

At NALA, he will lead compliance officers across the UK, the European Union, the United States, and Canada. He will also oversee the company’s enterprise risk framework and report to Founder and CEO Benjamin Fernandes.

From TerraPay to NALA’s stablecoin infrastructure

Aly’s most recent role was Group Head of Compliance at TerraPay, where he worked across a cross-border payments network that settles with banks and mobile wallets in 158 countries, according to NALA’s announcement.

At TerraPay, Aly spearheaded the development of TerraPay Lens, the company’s proprietary monitoring and screening platform. NALA describes that experience as particularly relevant to Rafiki, which enables money movement across borders using stablecoin rails and connections to banks and wallets.

The role required compliance oversight across multiple markets and regulatory environments. That experience aligns with NALA’s stated ambition to expand its infrastructure for banks and enterprise customers.

Before TerraPay, Aly was Director of Compliance at Careem. There, he built compliance capabilities for a consumer technology business operating across emerging markets.

He also spent four years at IWoca, an FCA-regulated UK lender, where he served as Head of Compliance, Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO), and Data Protection Officer (DPO).

As MLRO, Aly held personal regulatory accountability for the firm’s anti-money laundering controls. That responsibility gave him direct experience with the regulatory obligations facing a financial services business.

Earlier in his career, Aly worked in PwC’s Financial Services Regulatory Practice and at the Financial Ombudsman Service. He also held a role at RateSetter, began his career at Lloyds TSB, and trained in law.

A global compliance remit across NALA and Rafiki

At NALA, Aly will own the company’s global compliance strategy across several core areas:

Anti-money laundering and financial crime
Sanctions compliance
Consumer protection
Licensing and regulatory requirements
Enterprise risk management

His remit spans both the NALA app and Rafiki. The app serves consumers, while Rafiki provides stablecoin payment infrastructure for banks and enterprises.

That creates a broad compliance responsibility across different customer types and operating models. Consumer-facing services require controls suited to individual users, while enterprise infrastructure must address the needs of institutional partners and the markets in which they operate.

Aly will lead compliance officers across the UK, EU, US, and Canada. The company says he will also run its enterprise risk framework, with the role reporting directly to CEO Benjamin Fernandes.

The announcement does not disclose changes to NALA’s existing licenses, new regulatory approvals, or specific compliance systems planned under Aly’s leadership.

Why compliance matters as stablecoin payments expand

Stablecoins are increasingly being used as a settlement option for cross-border payments. Their potential appeal includes moving value across digital networks while maintaining a value linked to a traditional currency.

However, stablecoin payments still operate within a complex financial environment. Transactions may involve banks, payment providers, wallets, counterparties, and regulators across multiple jurisdictions.

That makes compliance a central part of scaling the service. Businesses must manage risks involving financial crime, sanctions, customer protection, licensing, and transaction monitoring.

NALA says its bank and enterprise partners expect stablecoin payments to meet standards comparable to regulated payment services. The company sees strong compliance as a foundation for trust and for expanding Rafiki into additional markets and payment corridors.

The appointment also reflects the importance of adapting controls as new rules for stablecoins develop in the US, UK, and Europe. The announcement does not identify specific regulations or claim that NALA has received new approvals as a result of the appointment.

Instead, it positions Aly’s experience as relevant to building a compliance function that can support expansion while maintaining regulatory discipline.

Leadership view: scaling without cutting corners

NALA Founder and CEO Benjamin Fernandes said stablecoins are changing cross-border payments and that banks working with the company need high standards.

Fernandes highlighted Aly’s experience at TerraPay and as an MLRO in the UK, saying it would help NALA scale while maintaining compliance standards as Rafiki takes on larger enterprise contracts and the company expands into new markets.

Aly said stablecoins could bring significant change to cross-border payments but added that banks, partners, and regulators must be able to trust every transaction.

His stated priority is to build a compliance function that allows NALA to grow while maintaining strong controls.

The comments frame the appointment as both a risk-management decision and an operational step in the company’s expansion plans.

What to watch next

The key indicators will be how NALA develops its compliance operations across its markets, supports new enterprise contracts, and expands Rafiki into additional payment corridors.

Further details on new market launches, regulatory approvals, or changes to the company’s compliance infrastructure have not been provided in the announcement.

TheFinRate’s view: Aly’s appointment highlights a practical challenge for stablecoin payments companies: growth depends not only on technology and liquidity but also on the ability to meet the compliance expectations of banks, enterprise customers, and regulators. His experience across cross-border payments, consumer technology, and regulated lending gives NALA a leader with exposure to several parts of that challenge.

Source: NALA announcement, “NALA appoints former TerraPay compliance chief Ashraf Aly as Global Head of Compliance & Risk.”