John R. Pepe, JD, CAMS
Executive Compliance Consultant

WORK EXPERIENCE

INDEPENDENT CONSULTANT
Bekker Compliance Consulting Partners, LLC
2008 Present

John Pepe is a Executive Compliance Consultant with Bekker Compliance Consulting Partners, LLC (BCCP) and, under written contract with BCCP, provides regulatory compliance consulting services to BCCP's financial services clientele.

SR. REGULATORY CONSULTANT / PROJECT MANAGER
Acumen Consulting Group, LLC
Securities Compliance and Regulatory Services
2006 Present

As a Sr. Regulatory Consultant and Project Manager, John undertakes various anti-money laundering, legal, and compliance projects for securities broker-dealers, investment banks, investment advisors, and asset management firms. General areas of expertise include:

Anti-Money Laundering (AML):

  • AML, Customer Identification Program (CIP), Know Your Customer (KYC), and Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) program creation, implementation, support, and testing;
  • AML investigation and compliance support;
    • Perform AML transaction monitoring
    • Analyze Suspicious Activity Reports (SAR) and Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs)
  • Foreign account / Offshore Enhanced Due Diligence;
  • Creation and implementation of a risk-based reviews;
  • Create, develop, and deliver AML/BSA training programs;
  • Perform AML/BSA remediation and mitigation of process & controls risk;
  • Perform AML/BSA transaction monitoring system redesigns, implementations and integrations;
    • Transaction Monitoring Vendor Solutions: Mantas, Actimize, SearchSpace, Aquilan, Norkom, SAS;
    • KYC Vendor Solutions: Cicada, GoldTier, TurboCompliance, Syfact;
    • OFAC Vendor Solutions: Metavante, Accuity; and
    • Trade Reporting / Surveillance Vendor Solutions

Auditing / Compliance:

  • Branch Office, Office of Supervisory Jurisdiction (OSJ), and Investment Advisor (IA) audits, mock audits, and inspections;
  • Draft, update, and amend written supervisory procedures (WSP);
  • Departmental compliance testing, audits, and risk reviews (NASD 3012 and Rule 206(4)-7);
  • Trade reporting assessments and trade surveillance; and
  • Regulator / SRO remediation and negotiations.

Legal:

  • Planning and executing litigation readiness planning and eDiscovery;
  • Performing complex document legal contract reviews;
  • Providing litigation and arbitration support: data processing, review management, identification, collection, review and production; and
  • Loss mitigation, loan modifications, and debt collections.

Project Management:

I am responsible for the development and implementation of multi-million dollar compliance systems, and online CRM business solutions, from concept to closing, for firms such as Marks & Spencer UK, Merrill Lynch, Edward Jones, UBS, Bear Stearns, BMO Capital, Fidelity Investments, Charles Schwab, Mizuho Securities, SunTrust Bank, Raymond James, and Goldman Sachs. Specific project management functions include:

  • Establishment and implementation of project plans;
  • Creation and management of Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and project schedules;
  • Negotiating of vendor and procurement contracts;
  • Development of project cost budgets;
  • Assessment and controlling of project risks and development or mitigation plans;
  • Managing of resources and the Project Team;
  • Performing quality assurance testing;
  • Managing the implementation and consistent delivery of projects to agreed upon timelines, budgets and expectations of quality;
  • Working with clients, developers and vendors to determine project requirements;
  • Ensuring compliance with required controls;
  • Overseeing project change management;
  • Managing the project scope and timeline through change management processes; and
  • Provide and manage communication to stakeholders.

COMPLIANCE DIRECTOR
LEK Securities Corporation 2004 2005

John's role as a consultative Compliance Director was to establish a compliance department for this relatively young and rapidly growing firm which provides its subscribers institutional access and execution on every U.S. exchange. In addition, LEK is a competitive clearing firm also involved in the Stock Loan/Borrow business. Achievements during my tenure were the:

  • Development of written supervisory policies and procedures, and supervisory systems and controls for all business lines;
  • Development, testing, and verification of AML/BSA/CIP/KYC programs and procedures, as well as being the AML Compliance Officer;
  • Annual inspection of branch offices and on-site visits to all regional exchanges;
  • Supervision of the firm's NYSE Floor activities;
  • Successful response, negotiation, and settlement, without monetary fine(s) or censure(s), with all industry regulators (NASD, CBOE, AMEX, NYSE, etc.) in regards to exams, inquiries, and outstanding issues;
  • Review and modification of various corporate contracts, such as Clearing Agreements, Vendor Agreements, and Dual Registration Agreements.

FIELD COMPLIANCE SUPERVISOR / OSJ PRINCIPAL
American Express Financial Advisors 2003 2004

As the Field Compliance Supervisor, John supervised over fifty independent financial advisors all across the state of New Jersey where he performed the following compliance supervisory tasks:

  • Drafted and reviewed compliance procedures and regulatory bulletins;
  • Performed monthly review and approval of all correspondence, advertising, financial plans, and outside business activities;
  • Created, developed, and delivered training programs on various compliance topics;
  • Performed annual inspections of branch offices;
  • Developed and delivered various compliance training programs;
  • Performed annual branch inspections and client interviews;
  • Supervised daily trade exceptions, blotters, and monthly reports for product suitability and money laundering issues.

EDUCATION

JD, Rutgers School of Law, 2005
Corporate and Securities Law

BA, Rutgers University, 1999

PMC, Rutgers School of Business, 2009
Project Management Certification

LICENSES

FINRA Series 7, Series 24, Series 4, Series 63, Series 9, Series 55, Series 51, and Series 14
ACAMS Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS)
PMI Project Management Professional (PMP) Certificate
Certified Financial Services Auditor (CFSA)