The three finalists for Compliance Week’s CCO of the Year come from varied backgrounds, but their stories align. Each finalist has worked to modernize their organization’s compliance program while simultaneously embedding compliance in business processes. It’s the kind of work that often happens in the background, without acknowledgement or acclaim. This award seeks to change that.
Without further ado, and in alphabetical order, are the three finalists for CCO of the Year for the 2026 Excellence in Compliance Awards.
- Khalid Alayed is the Corporate Compliance General Manager of Mobily, an integrated telecommunications company based in Saudi Arabia.
Excerpt from Khalid’s nomination: ”His leadership extends beyond Mobily through his service on the Board Audit Committees of MobilyPay, SeaPay, and Mobily InfoTech. In these roles, he enhanced oversight, strengthened internal controls, and supported enterprise wide compliance maturity.”
- Norm Ashkenas is the CCO of Robinhood Markets, a pioneering fintech offering an investment trading platform and app.
Excerpt from his nomination: ”Norm has also prioritized democratizing compliance knowledge through responsible innovation. Under his leadership, the team has harnessed AI to enhance governance and accessibility, including launching a 24/7 GenAI compliance chatbot that provides immediate answers to policy and regulatory questions.”
- James Clements is the CCO of The Carson Group, an SEC-registered investment advisor with $57 billion in assets under management.
Excerpt from James’ nomination: ”By championing innovation, whether through technology adoption, enhanced data governance, or forward-looking policy development, he has positioned the organization to navigate future regulatory landscapes with confidence.”
Leadership from Compliance Week and its sister organization, the Ethics and Compliance Initiative (ECI), judged dozens of nominations for CCO of the Year submitted by colleagues, friends, students, and others who know their work and were able to best articulate their accomplishments.
Of these three finalists, one will be named CCO of the Year for the 2026 Excellence in Compliance Awards, at Compliance Week’s National Conference, to be held May 6-8 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C.
Now in their seventh year, CW’s Excellence in Compliance Awards annually honor the brightest minds, biggest innovations, and crowning achievements in compliance.
At the reception on the evening of May 7, Compliance Week will also hand out awards to Joe Murphy for Lifetime Achivement in Compliance; Compliance Program of the Year, Compliance Mentor of the Year, Compliance Innovator of the Year, and Rising Star in Compliance.
Finalists for those awards will be named later this week.
Congratulations to all three finalists!
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