Compliance Conference 2017
 
Andrew J. Buddy Donohue
Former Chief of Staff
Former SEC
Keynote Speaker - Day 1:
Andrew J. “Buddy” Donohue served as the Chief of Staff (2015-2017) and Director of the Division of Investment Management at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (2006-2010).  His extensive experience includes senior leadership roles at leading financial services firms, including Investment Company General Counsel at Goldman Sachs (2012-2015), Global General Counsel at Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (2003-2006) and Executive Vice President and General Counsel at OppenheimerFunds, Inc. (1991-2001).  Buddy has over 40 years of securities law experience and will share his thoughts and insights on the regulatory environment and your role and obligations. 

 
Jim Reese
Acting SEC OCIE Chief Risk and Strategy Office
SEC OCIE
Keynote Speaker - Day 2:
Jim Reese is the Acting Chief Risk and Strategy Officer for OCIE. He previously served as Assistant Director of the Office of Risk Analysis and Strategy beginning in 2013. In his current role, Jim leads a centralized unit of staff that are responsible for enhancing the National Examination Program’s ability to target those firms and practices that present the greatest risks to investors, markets and capital formation. He joined both the SEC and OCIE in 1999 as an examiner in the Investment Adviser/Investment Company Program area. In his 18-year career, Jim has participated on more than 450 examinations and assisted on approximately 50 rule-making initiatives. Jim has a degree in finance from Virginia Wesleyan College, is a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), and a frequent speaker for the Commission’s Technical Assistance Programs, providing training to Securities Regulators in Saudi Arabia, Trinidad & Tobago, India, Cape Verde, Turkey, Malta, Jersey and Qatar.

 
Alan Foxman
Senior Consultant
NCS Regulatory Compliance
Alan J. Foxman serves as a senior consultant with NCS Regulatory Compliance. In this capacity, Alan works with a broad range of investment advisers on all aspects of compliance. Alan is a past Chairman of the Government and Regulatory Committee of the National Association of Investment Professionals (NAIP) and writes the monthly “Compliance” column for “On Wall Street Magazine.” From April 1989 through June 1997 Alan was a staff attorney with the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. (“NASD” n/k/a The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority or “FINRA”) in their Office of Dispute Resolution. After leaving the NASD, Alan had his own law practice, with a concentration in securities law. He is currently practicing law through the law offices of Dew, Foxman and Haugh, PLLC. Alan is a member of the Florida bar.
 
Craig Moreshead
Vice President
NCS Regulatory Compliance
Mr. Moreshead manages compliance services for investment adviser clients including registrations, policies and procedures, and examinations. As an attorney with in-depth knowledge of federal securities regulations, Mr. Moreshead specializes in regulatory issues related to hedge fund and private equity managers. Previously, he worked for a large financial services company, where he provided compliance counsel to the registered investment adviser and fund family, broker-dealer, and business executives regarding compliance with federal and state regulatory requirements.
 
Daniel Viola
Partner, Regulatory Defense and Compliance Group
Sadis Goldberg LLP
Daniel G. Viola oversees the firm’s Compliance Group. He structures and organizes broker-dealers and investment advisers and regularly counsels investment professionals in connection with regulatory matters. Mr. Viola previously served as a senior compliance examiner for the Northeast Regional Office of the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). During his tenure at the SEC, he worked on several compliance inspection projects involving compliance examinations of registered investment advisers to ensure compliance with the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, the Investment Company Act of 1940, the Securities Act of 1933, and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Mr. Viola's examination experience includes reviewing financial statements, performance advertising, disclosure documents, and investment adviser and hedge fund issues arising under ERISA and blue-sky laws.
 
David Chase
Attorney
The Law Firm of David R. Chase P.A.
David R. Chase, a securities lawyer, has an extensive background in SEC and FINRA securities regulatory defense, as well as the representation of defrauded stock market investors in cases to recover their investment losses. Mr. Chase began his legal career at Greenberg Traurig, an international law firm in Miami, where he represented securities and financial firms in securities cases and SEC and FINRA investigations. Thereafter, he accepted a position as Staff Counsel in the Enforcement Division of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, where he worked for almost four years, ultimately obtaining the title of Senior Counsel. For part of that time, Mr. Chase served as a Special Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office – Economic Crimes Division in the Southern District of Florida. While a Government prosecutor handling exclusively securities fraud cases, Mr. Chase was involved in matters involving insider trading, Ponzi schemes, market manipulations, municipal bond fraud and broker-dealer retail sales practice violations. After leaving the SEC, Mr. Chase has run his own law firm, focusing exclusively on defending those under SEC, FINRA and state securities investigations and prosecutions, and fighting for the rights of defrauded investors in cases to recover their financial losses. Mr. Chase also represents securities professionals in legal claims against their employing securities firms, as well as in matters involving licensure.
 
David Lui
Co-Editor
Modern Compliance
David leads the Contract Strategy and Negotiation Team at Galliard Capital Management, Inc.. The Contract Team is responsible for implementing management initiatives with respect to stable value investment contracts and other client contracts. In addition to his role at Galliard, David is a nationally recognized speaker on compliance issues. David earned a B.A. in History from Brown University and a Juris Doctor from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.
 
Dawn Calonge
Surveillance Director
FINRA
Dawn Calonge is a Surveillance Director in FINRA’s Florida District Office located in Boca Raton, Florida. Dawn manages Regulatory Coordinator staff that are responsible for the ongoing financial monitoring and sales practice surveillance of member firms in the Florida District Office. Prior to becoming a Surveillance Director, she served as an Examination Manager responsible for managing examination staff that conducted cycle and cause examinations. Dawn joined FINRA as a Staff Examiner, investigating a wide range of member firm activities. Prior to joining FINRA, Dawn worked at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the New York Stock Exchange. Prior to her regulatory work, Dawn worked in the accounting field and received her Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a major in Accounting from the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida.
 
Elizabeth Knoblock
Managing Member
Elizabeth Knoblock, PLLC
Elizabeth M. Knoblock is the managing member and sole owner of Elizabeth M. Knoblock, PLLC, a private law firm. She is a securities lawyer with over 35 years of legal practice and business experience. Over the course of her career, she has focused on the laws governing investment advisers, registered investment companies, hedge funds and private accounts, including institutional, retail and wrap fee clientele. Elizabeth has significant experience with securities-related policies and procedures, disclosure, compliance and regulatory issues. Over the course of her career, Elizabeth has served with the Office of General Counsel of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and with the Division of Investment Management of the Securities and Exchange Commission. She also spent five years in various legal positions with dual registrant brokerage firms, including Kidder Peabody, Gruntal and Shearson Lehman Hutton. In addition to managing her firm, Ms. Knoblock serves on the Advisory Board of Practical Compliance & Risk Management for the Securities Industry, a Wolters Kluwer publication, is a contributing author to Modern Compliance – Best Practices for Securities and Finance, and is a past Board member of the National Society of Compliance Professionals. Ms. Knoblock is a member of the state bars of New York, Florida, Alabama and the District of Columbia.
 
Eric Hess
Founder and Managing Counsel
HLC Consulting, LLC
Since founding his own law firm in 2013 and then HLC Consulting in 2014, Eric Hess has applied his deep capital markets regulatory and technology expertise to advising numerous investment advisers and broker dealers on information security, privacy and integrity issues in accordance with SEC guidance and the governing information security frameworks. Eric Hess has over twenty years of experience acting as senior-level counsel and management for top tier exchanges, broker-dealers, and financial services technology providers. While General Counsel for the predecessor of the BATS Exchange, he co-managed an extensive overhaul of their information security infrastructure and, together with the technology group, developed an information security program that met SEC-mandated exchange and Department of Homeland Security standards. Prior to the BATS Exchange, Eric was a senior capital markets attorney at Lehman Brothers where he focused on capital markets regulation and technology, as well as information security policy implementation. Prior to Lehman Brothers, Eric was General Counsel for the trading technology division of Sungard Financial Services and their alternative trading system, where he also supervised and contracted for the delivery of high availability and disaster recovery services to financial services firms.
 
Erika A. Subieta
Vice President
NCS Regulatory Compliance
Erika A. Subieta is currently a Vice President at NCS Regulatory Compliance. She provides strategic and regulatory advice pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Investment Advisers Act of 1940, FINRA/NASD Rules, and other relevant regulations. Ms. Subieta has significant experience in investment adviser and broker-dealer formation and registration matters, business transitions and expansions, FINRA membership proceedings, as well as financial analysis and reporting for securities firms. Ms. Subieta has served as a guest lecturer both in the collegiate academic environment and at private sector compliance events. Ms. Subieta received her bachelor’s degree in Finance from the University of Florida and her law degree (Juris Doctorate) from South Texas College of Law.
 
Jeffrey Pasquerella
Managing Director and Head of Financial Crimes in the Americas
UBS
Jeffrey M. Pasquerella is Managing Director and Head of Financial Crimes in the Americas at UBS. Previously, Jeff served as the Regional Director and Vice President of FINRA’s South Region and as District Director of FINRA’s District 10 Office located in New York. Prior to joining FINRA, Mr. Pasquerella served as an assistant district attorney in the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office for three years. He is a 1993 graduate of Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania, and a 1996 graduate of Pace University School of Law, White Plains, New York. Mr. Pasquerella is a member of the New York and Connecticut State Bars.
 
John H. Walsh
Partner
Eversheds Sutherland
A 23-year veteran of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), John Walsh joined Eversheds Sutherland (US) in October 2011. With his deep, insider’s experience and perspective of the SEC, John now represents broker-dealers, hedge funds, investment advisers and other securities firms in compliance and regulatory issues involving the agency. He counsels clients on the full spectrum of securities issues from development and compliance to cooperation in examinations and defense in enforcement proceedings. At the SEC, John played a key role in creating the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE), which administers examinations of U.S. registered securities entities. He designed and implemented the SEC’s securities compliance examination practices, first as a senior advisor for compliance policy and then, most recently, as associate director-chief counsel. In 2009, he served as OCIE’s acting director and led a massive retraining of examination staff on antifraud techniques. Prior to his tenure at OCIE, John was special counsel to former SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt from 1993 to 1995. From 1990 to 1993, he worked in the SEC Division of Enforcement, serving first as senior counsel and then as chief of the branch of regional office assistance, where he regularly appeared before the Commission’s closed meetings to present and discuss regional office enforcement cases. He also advised the commissioners and staff on securities laws and agency policy. John began his career with the SEC in 1988 as an attorney in the Office of General Counsel.
 
Joseph Cortese III
Senior Consultant, The Wealth Office™
DiMeo Schneider & Associates, L.L.C.
Joe joined DiMeo Schneider in 2008. He provides investment consulting services to family offices, nonprofit organizations, high net worth investors and other financial institutions as part of the firm’s Outsource Chief Investment Officer (OCIO) practice. Joe gives advice and expertise on all facets of effective investment program design including establishing investment objectives, asset allocation and portfolio design, investment research and due diligence and overall practice management. Joe is also a member of the firm’s Private Markets Research Team. Prior to joining the firm, Joe worked for Morgan Stanley’s Private Wealth Management Office and as a Managing Director for an investment management firm implementing a value-focused, long/short equity strategy based on University of Chicago Booth research. Joe earned his MBA with concentrations in Analytic Finance and Accounting from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a BBA with a Certification in Entrepreneurial Management from the University of Iowa. Joe is a member of UNICEF’s NextGen Junior Board and The University of Iowa’s J.P.E.C. Alumni Board, as well as Co-Founder of the Hawkeye Business Development Group of Chicago. Joe is currently serving as Director-at-Large and Secretary of the University of Chicago Booth School of BusinessAlumni Club.
 
Justin Wayne
Advisory Solutions Management
Advent
Justin is a Sr. Solutions Manager at SS&C Advent, working on product strategy for the wealth management market with a focus on technology partnerships and integrations. Previously at SS&C Advent he was a Product Manager for the Black Diamond platform. Justin joined Advent Black Diamond in 2013 after six years at Fortigent, LLC where he was an Associate Director of Consulting and Product Owner working closely with financial advisory firms.
 
Karen Zenisek
Managing Director
Schwab Compliance Technologies, Inc.
Karen Zenisek is the Managing Director for Technical Consulting for Schwab Compliance Technologies. She has been part of SCT since 2008, during which time she established the client facing teams and supported significant growth of the business and clients served. She currently heads the Technical Consulting Team. Under Karen’s leadership the Technical Consulting team partners with prospects to ensure a thorough understanding of the platform to facilitate the buying process and ensure alignment to prospects business and technology strategy. The team is responsible for vendor due diligence and leads our Request for Proposal(RFP) process. Karen has successfully worked in small firm startups as well as large corporate environments. She spent 15 years in the Financial Services Sector as a Solutions Architect for CNA Financial. Karen led a team of 20+ Business Analysts and Architects, where she focused on delivering B2B internet solutions. Prior to CNA, she was in Retail Management. Her technology and business management background result in business and technology solutions that deliver on business strategies. Karen has her MBA from the University of Illinois, Chicago and her BA in Computer Science from Rockford College, Rockford, Illinois.
 
Kelli Haugh
Vice President
NCS Regulatory Compliance
Kelli A. Haugh, serves as a Vice President for investment adviser services. In this capacity Ms. Haugh provides compliance and regulatory advice to investment advisers of all sizes on a broad range of topics. Kelli holds a Certified Securities Compliance Professional® designation and Series 65 license, and has been published in The Monitor, an Investment Management Consultants Association periodical. Kelli is a member of the Florida bar. She is currently practicing under the law offices of Dew, Foxman and Haugh, PLLC.
 
Kevin Rosen
Partner
Shutts & Bowen
Kevin D. Rosen is a partner in the Miami office of Shutts & Bowen, where he is a member of the Financial Services Practice Group and the Cybersecurity and Data Privacy Task Force. Kevin focuses his practice on securities regulation, financial regulation, cybersecurity, privacy, and data security. Between 2000 and 2016, Kevin served as Senior Regional Counsel with the Department of Enforcement at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and as Associate Regional Director with FINRA Dispute Resolution. At FINRA, Kevin was at the frontline of cybersecurity regulation, having served nationally as FINRA’s Regulatory Specialist on FINRA’s Cybersecurity and Information Technology Disposition Group. Kevin evaluated FINRA’s cybersecurity examinations, findings, recommendations, and disciplinary actions. As a lead FINRA enforcement lawyer, Kevin also directed many significant enforcement proceedings for compliance, supervision and sales practice violations, providing him with years of firsthand experience with FINRA’s restitution and enforcement processes. Prior to FINRA, Kevin was in private practice from 1998 to 2000, and he served as Senior Attorney with the Florida Department of Banking and Finance from 1995 to 1998. Additionally, Kevin is an Adjunct Professor of Law at Nova Southeastern University and teaches cyber and information crime. Kevin also is an International Association of Privacy Professionals Certified Information Privacy Professional/United States (CIPP/US) and a FINRA Certified Regulatory Compliance Professional (CRCP), and he has a J.D. from Nova Southeastern University and a B.S.B.A. in Finance from the University of Florida.
 
Kimberly Davis
Director, Corporate Legal Services
Charles Schwab
Kim Davis is a senior investment management attorney with deep expertise in broker-dealer and advisor regulation, exams, and litigation. In her current role, she is responsible for managing risk related to brokerage account transactions by 7,000 investment advisors (over $1 trillion in assets) at Charles Schwab Advisor Services. She is an attorney with over fifteen years of legal experience providing counsel to executives and companies regarding federal and state securities laws.
 
Laura L. Grossman
Assistant General Counsel
Investment Adviser Association
Laura L. Grossman is Assistant General Counsel of the Investment Adviser Association, the trade association for SEC-registered investment advisers. Prior to joining the IAA, Ms. Grossman was in private practice for over 10 years in the New York office of Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. (now Norton Rose Fulbright), where she advised registered investment adviser, mutual fund and private fund clients on matters arising under the Investment Advisers Act, the Investment Company Act and other federal securities laws, the Commodity Exchange Act and associated regulations, and a wide range of compliance issues. Ms. Grossman received her B.A., summa cum laude, from Rutgers College, and she received her law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. She is a member of the bar in New York, New Jersey, and the District of Columbia.
 
Les Abromovitz
Senior Consultant
NCS Regulatory Compliance
Les Abromovitz serves as a senior consultant with NCS Regulatory Compliance. He has handled publishing and compliance consulting projects for the firm since 2003. Les is responsible for conducting compliance reviews of web sites, marketing materials, social media communications, presentations, brochures, books, blogs, newsletters, proposals, radio programs, commercials, YouTube videos, and performance reports, as well as performance advertising. In addition, Les is a contributor to the NCS Regulatory Compliance monthly compliance newsletter. Les is the author of two books on compliance for investment advisers, which were published by National Underwriter/Summit Business Media. Les is a member of the Pennsylvania bar.
 
Lori Weston
Vice President
NCS Regulatory Compliance
Lori Weston joined NCS Regulatory Compliance in March of 2012 and currently serves as a Vice President for the investment adviser services team. She handles the compliance consulting needs of the firm’s investment adviser clients, including registrations and examinations, SEC and state regulatory interpretations, and the provision of services through the firm’s PartnerProgram. In addition, she is also responsible for business development and serves as an investment adviser resource for conferences, webinars, newsletter articles and other firm-sponsored and third-party events and publications. She has over fifteen years’ experience in the financial services and securities industry working with investment advisers and broker-dealers. Prior to joining NCS Regulatory Compliance, Ms. Weston was employed by Lincoln Financial Group. During her tenure with Lincoln, she held numerous positions, working in the areas of advisory services and compliance. As a manager of RIA compliance, she was responsible for all compliance-related aspects of four corporate registered investment advisers with combined assets under management of over $8.5 billion, and also provided compliance consulting and support to over 60 independent SEC and state-registered RIAs. Her principal responsibilities included enacting and enforcing the policies of the corporate RIA. Ms. Weston graduated from the University of Maryland with a B.S in Accounting.
 
Mike Pagani
Senior Director of Product Marketing and Chief Evangelist
Smarsh
Mike Pagani is Senior Director of Product Marketing and Chief Evangelist at Smarsh. With more than 25 years’ experience working with new and emerging technologies, he is a seasoned IT professional and recognized subject matter expert in the areas of mobility, identity and access management, network security, virtualization and information archiving. In his current role, Mike is a frequent industry event speaker, and contributes regularly to trade publications and online media outlets. Prior to joining Smarsh in November 2014, he held senior technology evangelist positions with Dell Software, Quest Software and NComputing.
 
Myles Blechner
Senior Consultant
NCS Regulatory Compliance
Myles Blechner has been in the Financial Services Industry since 1994 and has served as a Registered Representative, Trading Desk Manager, Operations Manager, Compliance Manager, and Broker Dealer and Investment Adviser Chief Compliance officer. Most recently, Myles has served as Chief Compliance Officer for Lebenthal and Co., LLC, a New York-based Broker-Dealer, Lebenthal Wealth Advisors, and Lebenthal Asset Management, affiliated Investment Advisers, and over the course of his career, has worked at Paine Webber/UBS, Dreyfus Service Corporation, Laidlaw and Co (UK) Ltd,First Empire Securities, and Schonfeld Securities. He attends and has spoken at Industry Conferences and Events and maintains a strong rapport with the regulatory bodies. His approach to compliance is to create a culture of compliance within the Firm, in which sales and trading sees compliance as a business partner. His experience includes Broker-Dealer and Investment Adviser Compliance Programs, including Policies and Procedures, Codes of Ethics, Conflicts of Interest, Annual Compliance Meetings and Training, and Regulatory Filings.
 
0Nathan Westcomb
Chief Compliance Officer
Ausdal Financial Partners
 
Neil Baritz
Co-founder
Baritz & Colman LLP
Neil S. Baritz is the co-founder of Baritz & Colman LLP. Neil has extensive experience in securities and corporate law, covering the transactional, litigation and regulatory aspects of each. He represents numerous brokerage firms, clearing firms, investment advisers and securities issuers, principally in Florida and New York, as well as throughout the United States and abroad. In addition, he regularly appears before arbitration panels of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (or FINRA), throughout the United States on behalf of the industry, and before securities regulatory bodies to defend enforcement and related actions. Mr. Baritz also speaks regularly at industry seminars, principally in the area of "best practices."
 
Nick Giakoumakis
President & Founder
New England Investment & Retirement Group, Inc.
Nick is the president and founder of New England Investment & Retirement Group, Inc. He established the fifteen-member firm in 1995, after spending seven years as a financial representative with PFS Investments (ticker: PRI). As an Investment Advisor at New England Investment & Retirement, Nick provides investment advisory, wealth management, and group plan services. Nick has been ranked among the top financial advisors in the country by several leading industry publications, such as Barron’s, Boston Magazine, Boston Business Journal, Financial Adviser and Registered Rep. magazines as well as ranked as one of America’s fastest-growing private companies by Inc. magazine in 2011 and 2013. Most recently, Barron’s named Nick among its Top 1,000 Advisors in the country and Top 25 in Massachusetts for the fourth time in the past five years.
 
Phil Dawicki
Vice President
NCS Regulatory Compliance
With more than 25 years in the financial services industry, Mr. Dawicki manages services to clients in meeting their financial regulatory compliance requirements and is responsible for technical consulting, quality control and practice development. Previously, he spent 17 years at regional and international CPA firms, becoming a specialist in broker-dealer GAAP accounting and FINRA/SEC regulatory reporting systems. As an Audit Partner and Director, he was responsible for the development of the financial services practice area. He has audited and reviewed net capital and FOCUS reports for compliance with Rule 15c3-1 for broker-dealers in all sectors of the industry. He has also audited and consulted with hedge funds, commodity funds and investment advisory firms.
 
Sally Cates
Director of Public Relations and Communications
Dynasty Financial Partners
Ms. Cates is responsible for public relations for Dynasty Financial Partners and the Dynasty Network of Advisors. In this role, Sally designs and manages worldwide public relations programs using strong, sophisticated media relations and communications skills. Prior to joining Dynasty, Sally handled public relations for Standard Chartered Private Bank – Americas, International Planning Group and Evercore Wealth Management. She has led corporate and global communications at Thomson Reuters, Epsilon, and The Citigroup Private Bank.
 
Stephen Murphy
Vice President
NCS Regulatory Compliance
Stephen Murphy comes to NCS Regulatory Compliance’s NYC office with over 25 years of experience in the Capital Markets as a trader, broker, CCO, operations officer, FinOp, and CEO. Mr. Murphy developed broad knowledge of the financial markets and compliance related thereto through 15 years of trading in both commodities and equities, building execution focused BDs, and running a global Alternative Trading System for both equities and fixed income. Mr. Murphy is poised to assist firms to maintain robust systems, processes and compliance regimes while growing their franchise.
 
Stephen Sussman
Co-CEO
NCS Regulatory Compliance
Stephen J. Sussman founded Regulatory Compliance, LLC in 1989 and is now Co-CEO of NCS Regulatory Compliance. Mr. Sussman’s background includes compliance consulting support to broker-dealer and investment adviser firms worldwide. He has particular expertise in broker-dealer accounting practices and is well versed in SEC-regulated accounting procedures. Prior to his current role as a compliance consultant and a FINOP for registered broker-dealers, he performed exams of SEC-registered investment companies and was a senior examiner with FINRA (formerly NASD) in New York and Boston. He has an MBA in Finance from Hofstra University, an undergraduate business degree from The State University College of Buffalo and an Accounting Certificate from Northeastern University. He currently holds the FINRA Series 7, 24, 27 and 63. He has been a Licensed Certified Public Accountant for over 25 years and had performed numerous certified audits of SEC Registered Broker-Dealers.
 
Stephen P. Wilkes
Partner
The Wagner Law Group
Currently with The Wagner Law Group, Mr. Wilkes advises a national client base of mutual funds, CIFs, private funds, registered investment advisers, insurance companies, broker dealers, wealth management firms, banks, trust companies, and third party platform providers, plan sponsors on ERISA, tax, and related securities law issues. He also takes the lead on ERISA fiduciary and prohibited transaction counseling and advising third party administration and retirement plan services firms as well as DOL, IRS, SEC audits. He provides advice with respect to retirement plan services agreements, investment management agreements, DOL regulations, SEC regulations, federal legislative activity, qualified employee pension plans, ERISA litigation, Collective Investment Funds, Off-shore investment advisers, Sales and Marketing Distribution Agreements, Wrap-Fee Programs. He frequently interacts with regulatory agencies and Congressional staff on legislative and regulatory issues. http://www.wagnerlawgroup.com/stephen-wilkes.html
 
Teresa J. Verges
Director, Investor Rights Clinic and Lecturer in Law
University of Miami School of Law
Teresa J. Verges joined the University of Miami School of Law faculty in the fall of 2011. She is the founding director of Miami Law’s Investor Rights Clinic, which launched in January 2012. The Clinic represents investors who have claims against their brokers in arbitration proceedings before FINRA, but whose claims are too small for them to be able to find legal representation. Professor Verges supervises the students at the Clinic and teaches a seminar on the substantive law of securities arbitration, broker-dealer regulation, professional responsibility and practical skills allowing the students to undertake all aspects of client representation. Prior to joining the School of Law’s faculty, Professor Verges served as Assistant Director of Enforcement for the Securities and Exchange Commission at the Miami Regional Office, where she led investigations of potential violations of the federal securities laws, including cases involving financial fraud, pay-to-play and municipal securities offerings, market manipulation, insider trading, offering fraud, violations by broker-dealers and investment advisers, and violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Before her appointment as Assistant Director, Professor Verges served as Regional Trial Counsel, where she supervised litigation of civil injunctive actions and administrative proceedings instituted by the SEC’s Miami Office. Ms. Verges has been recognized as one of “The Top Government Attorneys” in South Florida Business Guide, 2004-2009 and is a 2009 Recipient of noted “Florida Legal Elite Government Attorney” in Florida Trend. She currently serves on FINRA’s National Arbitration and Mediation Committee. Ms. Verges has an undergraduate degree from Elmhurst College (1985) and a law degree with highest honors from DePaul University College of Law, Chicago, Illinois (1989).
 
Vivian Velazquez
Senior Consultant
NCS Regulatory Compliance
Vivian Velazquez is a Senior Consultant for NCS Regulatory Compliance and has over 25 years of securities industry experience in the private and regulatory sectors. She previously held senior compliance positions at global and national financial institutions with billions in assets under management and offices throughout the U.S and Latin America. She is a former Branch Chief at the SEC’s South East Regional Office. Vivian is also former NASD (now FINRA) Field Supervisor/Senior Examiner in the NY and Denver offices. She is a trained FINRA arbitrator and has provided expert witness and litigation support in depositions and hearings to SEC and NASD enforcement attorneys and in private litigation.
 
William B. Peterson
Broker Dealer Regulation
Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP
Bill Peterson, a member of Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP, specializes in advising on broker-dealer legal issues and regulatory compliance matters together with related regulatory inquiries, investigations, examinations and enforcement matters. Mr. Peterson has over 25 years of varied legal and compliance experience in the financial services industry. He joined the Firm from Dahlman Rose & Co., a full-service independent institutional investment bank/broker-dealer, where he was the registered Chief Compliance and AML Officer for the past 6 years. Prior to that, he spent 17 years at Morgan Stanley (and its predecessor Dean Witter) starting as Vice President and Senior Attorney concentrating in litigation defense and regulatory matters and remained at that firm through its 1997 merger with Morgan Stanley & Co. Mr. Peterson's broker-dealer, regulatory, compliance and litigation experience covers areas across the retail and institutional customer, investment banking and capital markets, sales and trading and research businesses of broker-dealers.