10th May, 2022 15:30 Webinar Anti-Money Laundering & Combatting Financial Crime – US Federal Reserve & MFSA

Mr Matthew Scicluna is qualified in Banking and Finance, holding a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) Banking and Finance and a Master of Arts in Financial Services, both from the University of Malta. Mr Scicluna continued to specialise in financial services by completing an International Diploma in Anti-Money Laundering and an International Diploma in Financial Crime Prevention, both from the University of Manchester. Mr Scicluna also possesses a Crypto Currency Investigator accreditation by Blockchain Intelligence Group. Mr Scicluna joined the MFSA in 2010 after a two-year stint with a Local Bank. Mr Scicluna has extensive experience in Financial Services Regulation, Risk Management, Supervision, focusing on AML/CFT and combatting financial crime. He has held various positions within the Authority’s supervisory functions namely within the Securities and Markets Supervision, Conduct Supervision and Enforcement (AML/CFT section). He is currently a Deputy Head within the MFSA’s Financial Crime Compliance Function, leading a team responsible for offsite supervision, risk analysis, implementing and supporting / advising the MFSA’s supervisory functions on financial crime aspects in relation to both Authorisations and Supervision, designing and delivering financial crime related training, and coordinating information sharing efforts with other law-enforcement, regulatory and judicial authorities. Mr Scicluna has represented the MFSA during various evaluations conducted by international bodies and also represents the Authority at the National Coordination Committee. He also sits on the recently established Standing Committee on AML/CFT, a permanent internal committee of the EBA.

Mr Eric Micallef started working at the Authority through an internship within the Enforcement Function (AML/CFT section) while reading for his Bachelor’s Degree (Hons) in Criminology at the University of Malta. Mr Micallef is also in possession of an International Diploma in Anti-Money Laundering from the University of Manchester and is a second-year student, reading for a Masters in Forensic Accounting at the University of Portsmouth. He has formed part of the MFSA’s Financial Crime Compliance Function for four years, conducting AML/CFT and Sanctions Compliance Examinations as part of the Function’s Onsite team in close collaboration with the FIAU and SMB. At present, as an Analyst within FCC, he works as part of the Offsite and Risk Analysis team focusing on designing / delivering internal financial crime related training and representing the MFSA in external training and outreach events.  As part of this role, Mr Micallef also provides lectures at the University of Malta on a casual visiting basis. Additionally, he also contributes towards the Authority’s implementation of its AML/CFT strategy collaboratively with the various Supervisory Functions at both authorisation and ongoing supervisory stages, with particular focus on risk analysis and governance.

Jay Repine is a Director and Staff Manager with the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. He is assigned to the Miami branch with responsibility for an examination team conducting international and domestic examinations of community banks in the District as well as Foreign Banking Organizations operating in Miami. During his tenure with the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta he has been heavily involved in Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering (BSA/AML) examinations within the District, as well as within the Federal Reserve System. Jay also serves as a System instructor at BSA/AML courses, as well as supporting the System’s foreign technical assistance BSA/AML outreach programs. Jay joined the Supervision and Regulation Department in July 1991. Prior to joining the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, he completed the credit training program at Southeast Bank, and served in the United States Army, Adjutant General’s Corps as a Personnel Systems Officer. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration from Saint Leo College.

Margarita is a Senior Examiner with the Supervision and Regulation Department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and has over 16 years of combined banking and regulatory experience. Margarita joined FRB Atlanta as a bank examiner in 2009, working primarily in foreign bank examinations. Margarita has also participated in community, regional and large bank, as well as bank holding company inspections. Margarita has served in several examination leadership roles including examiner-in-charge and BSA/AML lead examiner, and specializes in issues related to BSA/AML, OFAC, internal audit and internal controls. Margarita has a double major in Economics and International Business from Hamline University and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Miami. Margarita is also a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS).

George Morales is a Lead Examiner with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s (FRBC) Department of Supervision and Regulation’s Large, Regional and Specialized (LSR) Institutions Division’s Bank Secrecy Act and Anti-Money Laundering (BSA/AML) examination team. George has responsibility for conducting BSA and AML examinations and working closely with members of the dedicated supervisory teams (DST) on routine continuous monitoring activities. George began his career in 1999 as an assistant examiner in the FRBC’s Supervision and Regulation Department’s Consumer Compliance and Community Reinvestment Act Division. As a CC&CRA examiner he was responsible for leading and conducting examinations of financial institutions to assess compliance with consumer protection and equal credit opportunity laws and regulations. In 2006, George joined a Chicago based foreign owned regional bank as an Assistant Vice President and Audit Manager in its corporate audit department. At the bank, George led and participated on various types of compliance audits as a member of the Regulatory and Governance Audit Team covering retail and commercial banking, insurance and brokerage activities to assess compliance and the effectiveness of controls relative to BSA/AML and economic sanctions and other regulatory requirements. George re-joined the FRBC in 2009 as a BSA/AML Risk Specialist Examiner conducting BSA/AML examinations at large and regional financial institutions including card and payment system operators. In 2014 George joined one of the Large Bank division’s dedicated teams as Large Bank BSA/AML examiner. As a dedicated team member for a large and foreign bank organization subject to multiple enforcement actions for a BSA/AML and economic sanctions program deficiencies, George worked with Federal Reserve Board staff and U.S. and foreign regulators to assess remediation activities and compliance with supervisory actions imposed. George has served as an instructor and presenter at BSA/AML training events and seminars in the Federal Reserve System and at local AML forums in Chicago. George earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1999. He earned his examiner commission in 2003.

Crystal Fernandes currently serves as a Senior Enforcement Action Associate for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. She is responsible for supervising and regulating regional, foreign and community banking institutions with outstanding Anti-Money Laundering (“AML”) and Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) enforcement actions for the 2nd District Federal Reserve Bank of the United States. She recommends, develops strategies, and monitors enforcement actions based on the safety and soundness of regulatory law. Previously, she served as a Director at FTI Consulting participating in several regulatory independent monitorships to address deficiencies within foreign banking institutions and reviewed the adequacy and effectiveness of their global compliance program with respect to their BSA/AML, Counter Terrorist Financing (“CTF”), Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”). Prior to joining FTI, Ms. Fernandes served as a Manager in the Financial Crimes Unit at Morgan Stanley where she managed on-boarding clients and executed BSA/AML due diligence investigations on clients throughout the Americas. She assisted in developing a quality assurance database designed to detect money laundering, terrorism, corruption, and other criminal activities. Furthermore, she managed fraudulent investigative operations where she analyzed falsified wire transfers, interviewed potential suspects, and aided the AML department with Suspicious Activity Report filings to government agencies. She also designed, implemented, and monitored a database to identify and track sets of fraudulent wire data transferred domestically and internationally and made procedural improvements to Morgan Stanley's framework of internal policies and guidelines. During her undergraduate studies at the University at Albany, Ms. Fernandes served as an analyst and program assistant within the Counterterrorism Unit for the New York State Intelligence Center. During this time, she assisted in several projects, including Project Vigilance, which analyzed thwarted plots in the United States since 9/11 focusing on thirty-one Islamic extremists. She collected, collated and analyzed source materials into databases and prepared several reports which accompanied law enforcement and homeland security briefs. Ms. Fernandes earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice and Political Science with a dual minor in Spanish and Italian from the University at Albany. She also earned a Master’s degree in Criminal Justice from Boston University. She speaks six (6) languages, is fluent in Portuguese, Spanish and Italian and is a Certified AML Specialist.