Meet the Speakers
Paula Back, CAMS, CAFP
With nearly 10 years’ experience, Paula works alongside financial institutions helping to identify and manage compliance risks.
Early in her career, Paula worked for the Federal Reserve as an examiner where she focused on assessing the financial strength of community banks and ensuring compliance with various consumer and Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) laws and regulations. In addition, she served as an analyst at a financial institution where she specialized in BSA operations, including high-profile suspicious activity investigations, high-risk commercial customer reviews and other requirements related to OFAC, 314(a) searches, model data validation testing and more.
Today, Paula plays a key role in quality assurance by reviewing colleagues’ work prior to submission to principals and clients. Additionally, she supports leadership on internal compliance initiatives, contributing to external client webinars, work program updates and newsletter publications.
Her unique industry background and deep understanding of regulations applicable to financial institutions, helps clients to avoid regulatory scrutiny and achieve compliance success.
Jeni Butler, JD
With more than 15 years of financial institution experience, Jeni helps institutions remain compliant with various applicable regulations.
Early in her career, Jeni gained experience assisting financial institutions of all sizes in testing compliance with federal regulations, developing and enhancing internal controls, and more.
Today, Jeni dedicates her time to helping financial institutions remain compliant with various regulations, including Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering, deposit operations, consumer and real estate lending, and more. To help reduce the risk of violations, she also assists clients in developing training programs, and offers valuable recommendations and feedback for internal controls improvement. Applying her technical expertise and legal background, Jeni is a frequent author of industry insights published by the firm.
Driven by her passion to see clients achieve compliance success, Jeni provides clarity on regulations and helps navigate a clear path to effective regulatory compliance management.
Suzanne Christian, CFE, CAMS
With 25 years of experience focusing on internal auditing and compliance, Suzanne works with credit unions across the nation to help them reach their regulatory compliance objectives.
Deploying a comprehensive review of policies, processes, documents and testing procedures, clients rely on her to guarantee compliance. Leveraging her hands-on experience working as an internal auditor, she is able to bring a unique prospective to each engagement and provide actionable recommendations to ensure regulatory adherence in a dynamic financial environment.
Suzanne serves as a trusted navigator in the complex regulatory landscape financial institutions operate in, guiding institutions through the intricacies to achieve not only compliance but optimized processes and increased efficiency.
Joe Giammetteo, CRCM
With over a decade of experience in risk management, Joe has emerged as a trusted advisor to financial institutions, catering to their regulatory, financial and operational needs with precision.
Joe’s extensive background spans compliance and internal audit, offering invaluable insights and strategic guidance to clients across the spectrum of financial institutions. What sets Joe apart is his diverse experience working with various types of financial entities. He spent over four years in a consulting role for credit unions and over six years as an internal auditor for a bank, honing his skills and expertise in navigating the intricate landscape of risk management. Joe’s proficiency extends to his solid understanding of banking regulations, as evidenced by his CRCM certification. Beyond regulatory compliance, he possesses a keen eye for analyzing risk and internal controls within financial institutions, ensuring robust risk mitigation strategies are in place.
Today, Joe focuses on ensuring compliance with regulations and controls by meticulously examining records, reports, operating practices and documentation. He conducts and oversees various regulatory compliance reviews, delivering innovative solutions to both simple and complex problems. Additionally, Joe evaluates and documents policy and procedures compliance, identifying areas for improvement and making recommendations to enhance overall efficiency and effectiveness.
Joe’s strategic insights and client-centric approach make him a trusted partner in navigating the ever-evolving landscape of risk management in the financial industry.
Matt Hagen, JD, CAMS, CRCM
With more than 7 years of regulatory compliance experience, Matthew works with financial institutions of all sizes addressing their compliance needs.
Dedicating his career to all things regulatory compliance, Matthew’s passion has been helping institutions navigate the ever-changing compliance landscape, while also assisting in meeting their compliance goals.
Focused on addressing compliance-related issues and regulatory concerns, Matthew performs a variety of targeted compliance assessments. From reviewing risk assessments, confirming audit programs, and evaluating compliance policies and procedures, to performing independent Bank Secrecy Act (BSA)/Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Officer of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) testing, clients rest assured knowing their compliance and risk concerns are being addressed.
A trusted compliance pro, Matthew also provides compliance training to financial institutions and their Supervisory Committees, addressing multi-session annual lender and BSA training.
Leveraging his industry experience paired with his legal background, Matthew provides valuable insights to clients. He proactively addresses potential regulatory concerns and offers helpful recommendations to line clients up for long-term compliance success.
Lyle Kolosik
Leveraging nearly 30 years of regulatory compliance and lending experience, Lyle guides financial institutions through compliance with various regulations.
A seasoned compliance professional, Lyle has spent the majority of his career in various lending and compliance roles at financial institutions enabling him to offer a unique perspective to engagements.
Dedicated to helping clients meet their compliance goals, Lyle performs compliance consulting related to deposit, lending, consumer, advertising, digital and real estate operations, among other areas. In addition, he assesses compliance with anti-money laundering regulations, such as the Bank Secrecy Act.
A true trusted advisor, Lyle works closely with clients addressing their compliance questions, offering valuable recommendations for enhancing their compliance management programs, developing effective risk assessment tools and more.
Ashley Munn, NCCO
Backed by a wealth of hands-on industry expertise, Ashley serves as her credit union clients’ go-to guide in hitting their compliance targets.
Working side-by-side with engagement leadership, Ashley collaborates with financial institutions of all sizes, ensuring their seamless compliance with a variety of regulations. From navigating the intricacies of the Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering (BSA/AML) and performing BSA/AML software validations, to deposit operations, consumer and real-estate lending, and beyond, she’s a relied-upon expert. Ashley takes pride in going the extra mile, offering valuable feedback and insightful recommendations to elevate internal controls.
Ashley doesn’t just exceed in keeping her clients compliant with important regulations; she empowers credit unions with proactive solutions, propelling them to new heights.
Rachel Valente-Herr
Rachel works alongside financial institutions of all sizes delivering regulatory compliance solutions to help them remain compliant and avoid scrutiny from regulators.
Assisting the firm’s financial institution clients establish and improve compliance policies and procedures is where Rachel thrives. Her responsibilities includes conducting targeted compliance assessments to identify weaknesses in operational procedures as it relates to regulatory requirements. With a strong understanding of the Bank Secrecy Act and Anti-Money Laundering regulations, she is often called on in engagements to perform related independent testing and software validations.
John Zasada, JD
Leveraging over 30 years’ experience, John is committed to assisting financial institutions of all sizes in managing, prioritizing and strategizing regulatory compliance.
John’s true passion is making sense of regulatory compliance. He has dedicated his career to performing a diverse range of compliance engagements, including BSA, UDAAP, lending, operations and marketing. Committed to helping clients navigate an everchanging regulatory environment, John frequently helps establish regulatory compliance programs and management systems, as well as educate clients and firm staff on various regulations and regulatory trends. His leadership in overseeing the simplest to most complex compliance challenges, has solidified his position in the industry as a sought-after expert, speaker and author on the subject matter.
John’s profound expertise, combined with his legal background, empowers his clients to make well-informed decisions to help them avoid regulatory scrutiny and achieve compliance success.
