The Past, Present and Future of the New York Chapter

The Past, Present and Future of the New York Chapter

In June 2018, Peter Wild, co-chair of the ACAMS New York Chapter from 2010–2018, announced his retirement. Wild has faithfully served the anti-money laundering (AML) community for numerous years. In 2016, he retired from JPMorgan Chase as a senior audit manager with over 10 years of experience managing operational and IT audits of AML/counter-terrorist financing and sanctions. He is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, a past president of the ISACA New York Metropolitan Chapter and a recipient of the Wasserman Award  for outstanding contributions to the IT audit and security professions. In 2016, he was a CAMS Task Force vice chair and assisted in the development of the current CAMS Certification Examination and the related study guide. As a founding member of the CAMS-Audit faculty, he frequently teaches the CAMS-Audit course. Wild is also a recipient of the ACAMS Al Gillum Volunteer of the Year Award. Wild was presented an Appreciation Award  for his service to the AML community by the ACAMS New York Chapter in September 2018.

Howard Spieler joins Meryl Lutsky as the ACAMS New York Chapter co-chair. Spieler has been a member of the executive board since 2016. He is currently a vice president in the sanctions advisory and oversight group at Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG). In that role he is responsible for providing economic sanctions advisory support as well as providing overall program oversight. Previously, he was a senior vice president at Citibank, supporting AML-related obligations as required by its regulators. Prior to that, he was the sanctions compliance officer within corporate compliance’s financial crimes group at American International Group (AIG), acting as a liaison within the company for both the commercial and consumer businesses on various global economic sanctions matters. In addition, he was the senior vice president and head of compliance at the New York City Economic Development Corporation where he helped develop the company’s risk-based compliance program and was tasked with regulatory reporting, as well as the ongoing monitoring and assessment of a $30 billion portfolio of public-private real estate transactions.

In 2018, the ACAMS New York Chapter hosted 10 events with approximately 1,700 members in attendance

In 2018, the ACAMS New York Chapter hosted 10 events with approximately 1,700 members in attendance. Events included networking-only gatherings, as well as learning events focused on transaction monitoring, fintech, current events in both AML and sanctions, human trafficking, crypto-AML detection, AML audits and the challenges in banking legalized marijuana.

The chapter has already begun planning 2019 events, with topics that include human trafficking prevention and detection, New York Department of Financial Services Part 504 lessons learned, know your customer/customer due diligence best practices, a law enforcement panel, risks associated with digital banking, and current trends and hot topics in AML and sanctions. Networking events include an event focused on those with five years or less experience in AML as well as our annual holiday party.

The chapter is also finalizing the formation of a virtual currency committee. The committee will provide a forum for industry practitioners to discuss trends and issues and share ideas to foster the development of tools, resources and best practices that will aid in the prevention of financial crimes conducted through the use of virtual currencies. Planned virtual currency committee events in 2019—pending sponsorship—include regulatory issues and perspectives, technology considerations, AML program requirements and the practicalities of executing investigations.

Fellow anti-financial crime professionals and all CAMS members globally are encouraged to follow the chapter on their LinkedIn page: http://www.linkedin.com/company/acams-new-york-chapter

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