Risk Management in Enforcement Actions: Managing Risk or Micromanaging It

Matthew Bisanz is a Financial Services Regulatory & Enforcement associate in Mayer Brown's Washington DC office. He counsels US and non-US financial services firms on a variety of regulatory, compliance, enforcement, and transactional matters.

Matt advises financial institutions on banking and derivatives regulations, insolvency and resolution issues, cybersecurity and data privacy concerns, and financial technology. He also advises on Dodd-Frank Act compliance issues, including Title VII requirements, the Volcker Rule, stress testing, and Reg YY enhanced prudential standards, and Basel III capital and liquidity requirements.

Matt also has experience with sensitive internal investigations and similar matters involving financial services firms (e.g., DOJ/IRS FATCA investigations, OFAC sanctions appeals and compliance, and FinCEN BSA/AML compliance).

Matt also advises financial institutions on legislative and regulatory developments regarding complex financial instruments and transactions that are of significance to the financial services industry. In addition, he addresses regulatory status questions for US and non-US financial institutions effecting transactions in, and providing advice with respect to, securities and derivatives.

Prior to joining the Washington DC office of Mayer Brown in 2013, Matt worked at the SEC, CFTC, DOJ, and FDIC in various regulatory and investigative roles and at a Big Four accounting firm in New York.

Dan Stipano brings more than three decades of bank regulatory and enforcement experience to his position as a Partner in Buckley LLP’s Washington, D.C., office. In his practice he advises on all aspects of bank regulatory and compliance issues, represents clients in state, federal, and foreign banking enforcement actions, and provides assistance in establishing, maintaining, and monitoring Bank Secrecy Act and Anti-Money Laundering (BSA/AML) compliance programs.

Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Stipano was at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), where he served as Deputy Chief Counsel for 16 years and Director of the Enforcement & Compliance Division after joining the agency as a staff attorney 30 years ago. In his role as Deputy Chief Counsel, including serving two stints as Acting Chief Counsel, he was extensively involved in every major OCC enforcement action over the last 20 years until the time of his departure. In addition, he played a key role in every major BSA/AML post-USA PATRIOT Act rulemaking and policy issuance.

Ed O’Keefe, former Global General Counsel of Bank of America Corporation, advises and represents financial institutions. Having also headed or served as a senior executive with Bank of America's compliance, technology, human resources and operations functions, O’Keefe’s broad experience includes all aspects of investigations, litigation, regulatory compliance, governance, cybersecurity, risk management and compensation. O’Keefe’s practice includes advising on all aspects of regulatory compliance, including BSA/AML, anti-bribery/anti-corruption, resolution planning, stress testing and responding to regulatory inquiries. He also advises General Counsel and their leaders on law department management, including engagement with regulators and control functions. A former Deputy General Counsel for Deutsche Bank AG and Chair of The Clearing House Association, O’Keefe has represented financial institutions before the U.S. Congress and the U.K. financial regulatory authorities, global agencies and courts, as well as the Federal Reserve, the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

O’Keefe is recognized for his legal and public service, including for his service on the Thomson Reuters Legal Executive Advisory Board, Leadership Council on Legal Diversity, Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy Center, Board Chair of the United Way of Central Carolinas and President of Council for Children’s Rights. O’Keefe is a Life Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and also serves on the US Global Leadership Coalition’s North Carolina Advisory Committee and the Best Lawyers’ Board of Advisors. He is the recipient of multiple awards, including Law 360 Innovative Law Department for the Bank of America Legal Department, the Thurgood Marshall College Fund Award of Excellence, the American Corporate Counsel Association Pro Bono Award, the Association of Fundraising Professionals Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser, North Carolina Super Lawyer and Business North Carolina Legal Elite. O’Keefe regularly speaks and publishes on bank regulatory issues, cybersecurity and legal risk management. He is a co-author of the Regulatory Investigative Chapter in the treatise, Successful Partnering Between Inside and Outside Counsel, published by Thompson Reuters and the Association of Corporate Counsel.

Irena is a principal in Deloitte & Touche LLP’s US Banking and Securities Regulatory practice with experience in providing clients assistance with regulatory, compliance, risk management, and operational controls issues. Irena advises clients for pre-examination diagnostic, post-examination remediation, and supervisory action response purposes. She has led remediation projects and performed gap analyses. Prior to Deloitte, she was a senior examiner for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Megan Webster is a partner in Mayer Brown's Chicago and New York offices and a member of the Litigation & Dispute Resolution practice. Her broad national practice focuses on complex commercial litigation, investigations, responding to federal and state regulators and enforcement authorities, and compliance counseling. Megan also counsels companies on risk management, litigation avoidance strategies and general strategic decisions on multi-disciplinary matters.

Megan is widely regarded as a trusted senior business advisor and an efficient and creative problem solver who leverages her unique experience in both private practice and as in-house counsel.

Prior to joining Mayer Brown, Megan spent more than a decade in various high-level in-house counsel positions at large global banking and financial services firms. Most recently as vice president and associate general counsel, she led a team responsible for US personal and commercial banking disputes and investigations at BMO Financial Group. Before joining BMO, Megan spent a decade at HSBC, where she held several positions including senior vice president and associate general counsel. In her in-house roles, Megan managed a diverse docket of consumer and commercial matters across business lines including class action and individual litigation, federal and state government investigations and enforcement actions, and internal investigations. She also served as lead counsel responsible for domestic antitrust litigation and transactional matters. During her tenure as in-house counsel Megan managed some of the most significant litigation, investigations, and state and federal exam and enforcement matters for her clients. Megan began her career in private practice at a large international law firm.

Philip M. Berkowitz is the U.S. practice co-chair of Littler's International Employment Law Practice Group and co-chair of the Financial Services Industry Group. He advises multinational and domestic companies in a wide range of industries on employment-related matters. He has significant experience advising multinational companies regarding U.S. and overseas employment and executive compensation practices. He represents employers in individual and class action lawsuits and arbitrations, and he appears in U.S. federal and state courts and before administrative agencies and international arbitration tribunals.

His diverse selection of clients includes companies in financial services, oil and gas, pharmaceuticals and chemicals, publishing, and fundraising.

A respected authority on international employment law issues, Philip conducts training worldwide on labor and employment matters. He is a frequent speaker before the American Bar Association, the International Bar Association, the Japan Society and other prominent international organizations. Philip is the founding chair of the Practising Law Institute’s (PLI) Annual International Employment Law Conference.

Philip previously worked as a partner and head of international employment law at a full-service international law firm.