Samantha brings 25+ years of experience in financial services as an attorney, regulator, central banker, policy maker and advocate, chief compliance officer, and consultant. She is acknowledged as an international authority on AML and sanctions compliance, payments, and blockchain technology.
Recently, Samantha has been advising clients on the development of robust compliance programs and leading the compliance function of digital assets startup companies. In addition to her roles at AWIC, she currently serves as the Founder & CEO of Unconventional Consulting and Senior Advisor to several management consulting firms. She has served as CCO at two crypto exchanges and a non-fungible tokens (NFTs) platform. At each company, Samantha established a comprehensive compliance program, oversaw day-to-day compliance activities such as customer onboarding and transaction monitoring, managed registration and licensing, interfaced with regulators, and secured strategic banking partners. Prior to these experiences, Samantha was a Senior Director in the risk and regulatory compliance consulting practice at Guidehouse.
Samantha launched new strategies and initiatives in financial crime compliance, payments, and innovative technology at BAFT, the international banking subsidiary of the American Bankers Association. Her efforts significantly increased the association's policy influence and industry visibility. She also produced industry tools that are globally recognized as best practice, including a playbook for obtaining and maintaining correspondent banking accounts, an indemnity agreement for securing the return of funds fraudulently transferred abroad, and a framework for auditing blockchain solutions used in banking.
Samantha joined the Federal Reserve Board at height of the global financial crisis and FinCEN following the 9/11 terrorist attacks to write regulations implementing the laws which transformed the U.S. financial services industry: the Dodd-Frank Act and USA PATRIOT Act. At the Fed, she drafted rules governing remittance transfers (Reg. E), mortgage lending and servicing (Reg. Z), check clearing and processing (Reg. CC), and debit card interchange and routing (Reg. II). Samantha also led the retail payments team’s analysis of mobile and cryptopayments, oversight of the Fed’s check, ACH, and payments security systems, and introduction of chip and PIN cards and faster payments in the U.S. In addition to writing regulations at FinCEN, Samantha brought high-profile enforcement actions against financial institutions for Bank Secrecy Act violations and negotiated agreements with foreign counterparts to share financial intelligence information.
As the global head of regulations and compliance, Samantha built international money transmitter Ruesch’s compliance function from scratch in 15 months to prepare the company for sale. After Travelex acquired Ruesch, she integrated the compliance teams, programs, and technology systems world-wide. Samantha began her career as an attorney at top-tier global law firm of Morrison & Foerster.