For the Love of Sanctions: Best Practices for a Sound Compliance Program

In June 2023, Howard joined Citigroup as a Sanctions Risk Officer for the Banking, Capital Markets and Advisory Group, where he works with first and second line stakeholders to ensure sanctions compliance with applicable regulations, policies and procedures.

Previously, Howard was a Vice President in the Global Sanctions Compliance Department at MUFG, where he collaborated on sanctions compliance program initiatives and worked on wide-ranging projects, including risk assessments, global product reviews, and consulting on complex transactions. Prior to that, he held anti-financial crime roles at Citibank and AIG, where he provided sanctions and compliance subject-matter expertise to global stakeholders.

Before that, Spieler served in the Bloomberg administration for 10 years, with seven of those years as head of compliance at the New York City Economic Development Corporation, where he helped develop and maintain its risk-based compliance program, which included managing regulatory reporting as well as the ongoing monitoring and assessment of a $30 billion portfolio of public-private real estate transactions

Starting in 2019, Marlon has held different sanctions roles in the banking industry. In his current role at Rabobank, he heads up the team in their FEC Tech department that drives innovation for sanctions screening controls. In this capacity, he combines regulatory insights with a team of expert data scientists in order to create cutting-edge sanctions detection solutions.

In earlier sanctions roles, he was involved in the configuration of screening engines, list management, as well as alert investigations. Marlon is an active member of the ACSS Benelux Chapter.

Prior to joining Rabobank, he specialized in credit risk management for several financial and non-financial institutions in The Netherlands. Marlon’s academic background is in (Tax) Law and Economics, at Utrecht University and VU Amsterdam.

Ivy Llena has over 14 years of experience in the learning and development field, providing capacity-building and professional development programs for corporate and social service agencies in the US and the Philippines.

Before joining ACSS, she was a program director at a non-profit organization in the Philippines, where she co-designed and co-implemented economic empowerment programs and services for survivors of human trafficking and their families. Ivy also served at the Social Policy Institute at Washington University in St. Louis, where she led and contributed to inclusive economic growth initiatives.