Biography
Ritu Jethani is a senior risk and compliance leader with over 20 years of experience driving operational resilience, regulatory compliance, and enterprise risk programs across global organizations, currently serving as Director of TPRM & ERM at KPMG. She is also a Strategic Advisor to Plootus, a fintech in the retirement planning space. Most recently, as Senior Vice President and Global Head of Risk and Compliance at Bounteous, she led initiatives spanning cybersecurity, data privacy, ESG, business continuity, and third-party risk, following prior leadership roles at Morgan Stanley, Melio, Deloitte, and Ernst & Young.
Ritu holds an MBA from NYU Stern and a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the University of Connecticut, and is a member of Mensa International and the International High IQ Society, ranking in the top 1% globally for intellectual aptitude.
Leadership Characteristics
-Strategic and transformational leader who excels at building and modernizing risk, compliance, and governance programs.
-Collaborative and relationship-driven, with a track record of partnering across Legal, Compliance, Security, Procurement, Technology, Operations, and Executive Leadership teams.
-Known for bringing structure to complex environments while balancing regulatory requirements with business objectives.
-Strong advocate for innovation, leveraging automation, AI, and technology to improve efficiency, strengthen controls, and enhance decision-making.
Summary Version:
Strategic thinker
Comfortable leading change
Strong systems and process orientation
Focused on long-term outcomes and organizational effectiveness
Leadership Challenges
-Leading large-scale transformation initiatives while balancing regulatory expectations, operational realities, and stakeholder priorities.
-Building enterprise-wide risk and compliance programs from the ground up in fast-growing organizations.
-Driving change across highly matrixed organizations where success depends on influencing without direct authority.
-Navigating complex regulatory environments while enabling innovation and business growth.
-Successfully led organizations through significant periods of change, including the integration of the $13 billion E*TRADE acquisition into Wealth Management at Morgan Stanley.
-Played a leadership role during the COVID-19 pandemic, helping enable remote work capabilities for 10,000 employees while maintaining business continuity across 600+ locations.
-Repeatedly built and transformed risk, compliance, privacy, and third-party risk programs across industries including healthcare, fintech, financial services, consulting, and consumer products.
Key Take-a-ways
One thing I would tell others in the industry:
Risk management is most effective when it is viewed as a business enabler rather than a control function. The best programs help organizations innovate confidently, grow responsibly, and build trust with customers and stakeholders.
Favorite aspect of TPRM:
Third-Party Risk Management sits at the intersection of strategy, operations, technology, cybersecurity, compliance, and business relationships. Every day presents a new challenge and an opportunity to strengthen organizational resilience.
Fun Fact
I've traveled to 38 of the 50 U.S. states.
My 38th state was Colorado—which happens to be the 38th state admitted to the Union. The coincidence wasn't planned, but it's become one of my favorite travel trivia facts.