Regulatory Challenges of Cryptocurrencies And Virtual Assets

November 2, 2023 | 09:00 AM – 10:15 AM NYC

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FREE Webinar

CSS Credits: 1.25

Duration:

75 minutes

Speakers:

  • Gabriel Hidalgo, Managing Director | FTI
  • Keishana LaRose, Senior Consultant | FTI
  • Amber Vitale, Managing Director | FTI

Moderator:

Alexander Witt CSS, Sanctions & Export Controls Consultant, ACSS

Date:

Thursday, November 2, 2023

Time:

  • 09:00 AM – 10:15 AM NYC
  • 02:00 PM – 03:15 PM London
  • 03:00 PM – 04:15 PM Amsterdam

Description:

As cryptocurrencies and virtual assets gain prominence in the global financial ecosystem, ensuring compliance with sanctions regulations becomes more critical than ever. Join us as we explore the intersection of digital finance and international sanctions, providing valuable insights and strategies to navigate this evolving field.

Attendees Will Learn:

  • Cryptocurrencies and Sanctions: Understand how cryptocurrencies and virtual assets can inadvertently lead to sanctions violations, and grasp the significance of staying compliant in this rapidly changing environment.
  • Regulatory Framework: Gain insights into the existing and evolving sanctions regulations that apply to cryptocurrencies and virtual assets, both in the U.S. and internationally.
  • Detection and Monitoring: Explore methods and tools for detecting and monitoring transactions involving cryptocurrencies, ensuring compliance with sanctions lists and identifying potential risks.
  • Risk Mitigation Strategies: Learn practical strategies for managing the inherent risks associated with cryptocurrencies and virtual assets, and how to implement effective risk mitigation measures.
  • Case Studies: Delve into real-world case studies that illustrate the consequences of non-compliance in the realm of digital finance, and discover how organizations have successfully navigated sanctions challenges.
  • Best Practices: Acquire actionable best practices for incorporating sanctions compliance into your cryptocurrency and virtual asset operations, safeguarding against legal, financial, and reputational risks.

Don’t miss this opportunity to gain a comprehensive understanding of the complex relationship between sanctions compliance and the world of cryptocurrencies and virtual assets.

Certificate of Attendance:

All active ACSS membership will be able to download the certificate from the Learning Management System (under the achievements tab). 

Event Registration

Register for this FREE webinar today! Tell your friends, clients, customers and colleagues about it.

ACSS webinars conduct audience polls that will give you vital benchmarking data so you can measure your sanctions compliance against others.

ACSS Members who attend the live session can download their Certificate of Attendance from our member-only platform.

Self-Registration

Speakers

Gabriel Hidalgo

Managing Director
FTI

Gabriel Hidalgo is a senior compliance practitioner and advisor with deep regulatory and operational knowledge of banking, virtual assets and fintech. He has over 23 years of legal, BSA/AML and sanctions compliance experience in creating, implementing, remediating and updating compliance programs to exceed regulatory requirements while advising clients on industry best practices. Mr. Hidalgo previously created and led the Virtual Assets and Fintech compliance practice at K2 Integrity. In his role as practice leader, he advised clients in the banking, virtual assets, and fintech industry on BSA/AML and sanctions compliance matters. Prior to that, he was the Chief Compliance Officer for challenger bank Noble Bank International where he led compliance teams for all banking operations. In that role, he developed and implemented the compliance program platform that successfully onboarded and monitored customers with a specific focus on virtual asset and fintech client segments.

Mr. Hidalgo was also previously a Chief Compliance Officer at Community Federal Savings Bank (“CFSB”), an OCC chartered bank whose customer focus was on emerging foreign fintechs who wished to provide their products and services to U.S. customers. He led the compliance teams on both the BSA/AML and sanctions side as well as the consumer compliance side. Upon arriving at CFSB, Mr. Hidalgo successfully remediated all existing compliance issues previously detected by the OCC in 18 months. Additionally, Mr. Hidalgo was the first Global Head of Compliance for itBit (now known as Paxos), a virtual asset exchange located in New York. Under Mr. Hidalgo’s guidance, in 2015, itBit was granted the first financial institutional charter provided to a virtual asset service provider within the U.S., a Limited Purpose Trust Charter from the State of New York.

Keishana LaRose

Senior Consultant
FTI
Keishana LaRose is a Senior Consultant in FTI Consulting’s Washington, DC office. Her areas of expertise include anti-money laundering (AML) and Office of Foreign Assets Controls (OFAC) regulatory compliance. She has practical experience implementing controls in connection with correspondent banking and Know Your Customer (KYC) and Transaction Monitoring/identification of suspicious activity related processes. Ms. LaRose is also adept at conducting anti-financial-crime risk and staffing assessments, assessing the KYC programs of crypto and traditional banking service providers, identifying gaps in AML compliance programs, and providing risk-based guidance to enhance or remediate clients’ programs.

Before joining FTI, Ms. LaRose worked as an OFAC Sanctions Analyst at a Global bank. There, she analyzed both domestic and international wire and Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) messages to mitigate risk and prevent unlawful transactions with OFAC sanctions targets. In addition, Ms. LaRose assisted in enhancing sanctions risk assessment policies and procedures, including analysis of qualitative data to identify key drivers of AML/OFAC risk and implement solutions.

Amber Vitale

Managing Director
FTI
Amber Vitale specializes in OFAC and anti-money laundering (AML) matters. Amber has 19 years of experience that includes roles in OFAC enforcement, in-house compliance, legal practice, and consulting from which she brings multiple perspectives and insights to projects involving financial crimes-related regulation and compliance, and risk management and internal controls. She is adept at assessing compliance programs, identifying regulatory concerns, providing holistic and risk-based guidance, and developing tailored solutions for clients. She offers deep expertise to OFAC investigations, enforcement matters, and litigation. Amber has been a sanctions expert and liaison to investigators and prosecutors from federal, state and local agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of Justice, and Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.

Prior to joining FTI Consulting, Amber worked at the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for five years, including as an Enforcement Section Chief, where she investigated cases involving financial services, oil and gas, shipping, electronics, agricultural, medical, and other industries. More recently, Amber was the Head of Sanctions Advisory at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., where she was responsible for global sanctions policy and procedures; OFAC reports, guidance, and training; and the risk-based review of sanctions lists, critical data for screening, and screening system settings. Previously, Amber developed global anti-financial crime polices and conducted OFAC investigations as the Senior Compliance Officer for Economic Sanctions and Assistant General Counsel at AIG International. As an Associate at Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP, Amber advised banks, insurance companies, money-service businesses, broker-dealers, investment advisors and hedge funds on AML, OFAC and anti-bribery/corruption compliance and created various documents for these programs. She also served as a Director at a Big Four firm where she developed and led AML and OFAC-related remediation projects for financial institutions subject to regulatory orders.

Moderator

Alexander Witt CSS

Sanctions & Export Controls Consultant
ACSS

Alexander Witt is a Sanctions & Export Control Consultant for the Association of Certified Sanctions Specialists (ACSS). He is an expert in EU, US, and German Sanctions and Export Control Laws and Regulations. Previously Alexander worked as a Sanctions & Export Control Consultant at Full Circle Compliance and as an Export Compliance Officer at Fujifilm Europe in the Netherlands.

Customer Testimonials

“I really appreciated the detail and references on the slides, very helpful”.

Scott Kinney, CAMS

Compliance Manager Global Sanctions Group, Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.

“Great job. Very informative”.

Brianna Long

Senior Compliance Analyst Compliance and Risk Investigations and Analysis, Convera